Hybrid Tennis International, LLC
HomeWinners, Runners-Up and Losers
Hybrid Tennis Blog
June 10, 2013
Welcome to my blog. Witam. A tennis player can't be great without passion for the game. That actually holds true for anything that you do in life. If you don't have a passion and love for what you do you will always be just average. The best players love everything about the game. Win or lose they are in tennis for a long hole. Take a look at French Open winners. Serena showed a palate of emotions as did Rafa during the tournament. They gave everything they had in order to become Champions ,simply because the are so passionate about the game. And they are not afraid to show it. Kudos and congratulations to them for being who they are. What a pleasure it was to watch them compete for every point in an animal like fashion.
Passion for what you do can be expressed in a lot of different ways. It is something within you that stays with you throughout your life. On a personal level I understood passion not through tennis, but through music. Watching someone sing that gives totally and unconditionally to the sound made me relize what passion is all about. And tennis is very much just like music.
Today my favourite musician would have been 75 years old. She had grace, she had feel for music , she had a voice that couldn't be duplicated and personality of no other. She was as passionate about her music as a human being could possibly be. She was Violetta Villas, a polish singer, who gave her life to music and animals. A musician certainly outside of the box with endless talent and passion for what she did. Really a tennis musician. RIP Ms. Violetta Villas.
June 17, 2013
Witam. Sometimes the best matches in the tournaments are not the finals. Therefore seasoned tennis connoisseurs like watching the early rounds. In this year's French Open the Novak vs. Rafa semis was everything a tennis enthusiast wanted to see and more. Can you imagine the beauty of tennis this type of rivalry would create on a hybrid?
June24, 2013
Witam. Today was the first day of Wimbledon 2013. A great day for all the "..I lost today, but I know that I am better than him/her ..." type of players . A great opporunity to learn about humility from one of the elite players in the world- Rafa Nadal. He lost to Steve Darcis today, but he was men enough to give all the credit to his opponent. When asked about his knee, he didn't try to find excuses, but simply said that Steve played an outstanding match and was a better player. He was humble, honest and sincere. A class act that appreciated his opponent regardless of his ranking. In my humble oppinion both Steve Darcis and Rafa are great winners.
July 1, 2013
Witam. One of the Golden Rules of Tennis says "...hit your first serves in singles to the outside corners of the service box and second serves into the weakness of your opponent. Today, in Serena vs Sabine Lisicki match at Wimbledon, Sabine's first serve to the duece side spoke for itself. Congratulations Sabine for a well played match.
July 8, 2013
Witam. You can have all the strokes in the world, but if you don't have it upstairs you will never be a great tennis player. Let's take a lesson from Agnieszka Radwanska. She is one of the most mentally tough and wise players today. She can "slice and dice", has great hands and takes advantage of everything that the game has to offer. She utilizes different spins, depths, velocities and heights of the ball to keep her opponents on the ropes. Last year final and this year's semis at Wimbledon are no flukes. Mentally tough players simply produce consistant and elite results. Agnieszka always " shows up". She knows tennis geometry and geography like no other player and anticipates better than most because of her versatility and knowledge. She plays percentages and has an incredible ability to lure her opponents into playing badly ( Martina Hingis like). Agnieszka plays tennis as she has trained on a hybrid her entire life.
Congratulations to Marion Bartoli and Andy Murray for winning this year's biggest grass court event in the world, but also applause to Agnieszka, Jerzyk Janowicz and Lukasz Kubot for making this year's Wimbledon a Polish one.
July 29,2013
Witam. There are tennis coaches and there are Grand coaches. I have always had a special place in my heart for Nick Bollettieri. Not only he was kind enough to give me a scholarship when I was a junior in need, but by his pure example he showed me what great coaches are all about. He was nice to everyone regardless of their level of play, very generous, fair and genuine and always worked so extra hard. He was very hands on, always on the court, spreading positive energy to everyone at the academy. His love for tennis was unconditional and to this day he has a nose for spotting great champions like nobody in the game.
You could be dead tired, dragging your feet during drills, but as soon as you heard Nick's voice ( even if he was a couple of courts away)you found the extra energy to move your feet and play like you were really fresh. Whether he knew it or not Nick helped you find an extra gear that is needed to perservere. He helped you find that power within that made you dig deeper inside you. He helped you find that " I never quit" attitude that is so crucial on a tennis court and in life. And for that I am forever greatful.
Happy Birthday Nick and thank you from the bottom of my heart.
August 25,2013
Witam. Weather you are a number one player in the world or a weekend hacker winning feels just as good. We are fortunate that tennis is a game which produces results based on merit. I have always felt sorry for ice skaters who sometimes get short end of a stick. Imagine having your performance rated based on someone else's oppinion. At least we have hawk-eye. What a great invention that is.
Nov 7,2013
Witam. It has been over a week since Hybrid Open Women's Division took place. It was so exciting to see women from all parts of the world compete in Hybrid Open. Power,finesse,great hands, wit, great footwork, artistry ,mental toughness and true tennis potential were on display during the tournament. Thank you Elitsa Kostova ( winner),Katya Yergina (runner-up), Marissa Gildemiester-Chapin, Stephanie Cox, Rachel Berkey, Yasmine Alkema,Giovanna Portiolli and Sanaa Bhambri for helping us make history. Good luck in the future and may the karma of Dual Surface Tennis Court give you what is best for you always.
November 30,2013
Witam. We are almost at the end of Thanksgiving weekend. What a great Holiday to celebrate and thank for another year. Thanksgiving should be celebrated all over the world and not only in the States, because it is truly a universal Holiday.
I have started a series of short tennis tips on youtube in both polish and english called Tennis@Reni's. For those of you ,who are interested every couple of weeks I will shoot short clips "Ren's style" from a hybrid court. Happy Thanksiving weekend to all of you and your Families.
Witam. Starting in the early Spring of 2015 we will have a series of tournaments for 3.5/4.0 tennis players as well as a Doubles Classic. We are also looking for a title sponsor for Hybrid Open 2015 for Men's and Women's Divisions. The draws next year will be extended to 16 players.
The Hybrid Open is the only tournament in the world played on a Dual Surface. My Christmas wish for 2015 is that we can have some of the best players in the world come play in our event. After all if you can win on a Dual Surface than you are truly the best of the best.
Merry Christmas.
March25,2015
Witam. We are starting this Spring with 2 tournaments.The first one is April 17-19,2015 with entry deadline April 14.It is for lique players with combined rating of 8.0 and below. Mixed Doubles only. Great opportunity for lique players to get a chance to experience the hybrid. Please e-mail me if you would like to play in Dual Surface Mixed Doubles. The second tournament is Dual Surface Men's Open Doubles. The first doubles tournament in the world on a hybrid. It will run from April 24-26 with entry deadline of April 21,2015. This is Open to everyone from pros,to reired pros,collegiate players,juniors,seniors and amatours. It is a prize money tournament. Great opportunity for players to be part of history.
Anyone interested in playing,sponsoring or just more info, please e-mail me.
August 26,2015
Witam. I see that Kumiko Date played in the qualies of US Open today. I remember playing her in the qualies of the US Open in the early 90's. A 4 hour match that is still very vivid in my tennis brain. What can one say about a player like Kumiko Date? Well, not only she is a true tennis warrior, but an inspiration to large number of people not only for longevity, but also for courage.
September 25, 2015
Witam. The Hybrid Open 2015 will be played on the following dates: Women October 23-25, 2015 with entry deadline of October 20. Men October 30 - November 1, 2015 with entry deadline October 27. This is a prize money tournament. If you are interested in playing, please email me to play this unique event. We will also be running a Jr. Invitational in November. Please contact me if interested.
October 6, 2015
Witam. To all of you that have e-mailed and called thank you. We are ok. The house is totally flooded on the first floor and we are still "on the island". Waist high water in the back yard and knee high in front. I have not been to the court yet, so don't know what it looks like there. However, I am still hoping that the tournament will happen.
October 21,2015
Witam. I am postponing Hybrid Open Women's Division which was scheduled for this weekend due to flood complications. Our house has been in waist high water for almost 2 weeks. On Monday I was able to go downstairs as the water has finally reseeded. All t-shirts, players packets, banners, changing tent and even some balls were totally wet and covered in sludge. I will figure out a new date for Women Division and will post it on my website. The Men's Division is still on Oct 30- Nov1 as I will have enough time to regroup.
The court is playing fine due to hard work of David Schnibbe. So ,this Saturday I will have a Fundraiser to help the flood victims. Here is how it will work. Anyone, who would like to play on a Dual Surface will get a chance to play for free. All they need to do is bring a can of food for the needy. All food collected will be given to Red Cross to help the victims of flood. Players interested in playing can call me on my cell or e-mail me. Court will be booked on 1 hour incremeants. Please make sure that you have clay court shoes on or if you want to be fancy you can bring a pair of hard court shoes as well and switch them like Fed and Nadal.
November 1, 2015
Witam, I took the food collected during fundraiser to Red Cross, however as they only take monetary contributions they directed me to Helping Hand of South Strand in Surfside. So I took it there. People at Helping Hands were very thankfull and said that they will distribute the food in Kingstree,SC to flood victims.
I had to postpone the Men's Division of Hybrid Open. We had some incredible players sign up, however not enough of them to make it a go. I will reschedule for Spring of 2016 and hopefully things will be back to normal by then.
TM
