Our Tennis Pros
We offer private lessons for adults and youth 7 days a week at the following locations:
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City College, San Francisco
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Del Mar Middle School, Tiburon
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Strawberry Recreation Center, Mill Valley (lights at this location)
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Eastwood Park, Mill Valley
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Tamalpais High School, Mill Valley
Sanyi Szabo -Head Pro
Sanyi has extensive coaching experience both in Chicago and San Francisco and overseas in Budapest, Hungary. He helped develop one the largest youth tennis programs in the Midwest when he worked for Midwest Tennis Programs in Chicago for 8 years. This program set the standard for grassroots tennis programming for park districts, villages, community centers, and schools in Illinois and has been recognized nationally for excellence. Sanyi also coached a Junior Tennis Academy Team designed for competitive players, following the USTA standards for 10 and under tennis. He has also been the coach for a number of Marin Junior Team Tennis championship teams. He holds a PTR specialty certifications for teaching adults and teaching children 10 and under. His passion for tennis infuses his teaching and inspires his students of all ages and levels.
Contact Sanyi at 415-410-3804 or higginstennissanyi@gmail.com
Sanyi's rate: $120/hour or $60/half hour
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Olga Bulycheva - Marin Summer Camp Director/Associate Pro - Marin
Olga was ranked in the top 600 on the professional WTA tour and still competes professionally. She grew up in Moscow competing against such top 10 players as: Svetlana Kuznetsova, Dinara Safina, and Vera Zvonareva. As a junior, she was ranked #9 in Russia in under 14's. She played for Brigham Young University and was ranked #17 in NCAA. She runs all our Pre-K programs, and Kindergarten-5th Grade Programs at Strawberry.
Contact Olga at 415.505.5087 or higginstennisolgab@gmail.com
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Olga's rate: $120/hour or $50/half hour
Dan Shanks - USPTA Certified Tennis Instructor
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Dan has been a highly successful USTA and Club Player in Marin for the past 20 years. He is a 5 time winner of the Belvedere Tennis Club 4.0 Singles Championship and helped lead their USTA teams to many victories. Dan’s passion for teaching the sport is obvious from the moment you meet him with his high energy and enthusiasm. Dan taught both his kids to love the sport with his son playing 4 years of varsity at Redwood High School and winning 4 MCAL team championships. Dan is a USPTA Certified Tennis Instructor, USTA Safeplay approved and CPR certified by the NCPRF.
Contact Dan at 415-686-3091 or dantshanks@gmail.com
Dan's rate: $100/hour or $50/ half hour
William Higgins - Director/Owner
William is originally from Austin, Texas where he was a top-ranked Open level player. He played professionally on the ATP tour after graduating from the University of Texas with an English degree. He ran the largest junior tennis facility in the world, the Barnes Junior Tennis Center in San Diego, and was the Head Pro at the Harbor Bay Club in Alameda. After moving to California in 2000, he was awarded the "Rookie Teaching Pro of the Year" by the Northern California United States Professional Tennis Association. In 2002, he coached Billie Jean King's World Team Tennis Junior National Team to a National Championship in San Diego. He has worked with National Adult & Junior ranked players and teams. He has run tennis programs in Marin since 2004, and has managed the tennis lesson programs at The Ranch since 2008. He manages tennis facilities and school programs all over California. Come on out and join his team of pros to learn how to play like the pros and have a blast doing it!
William does not teach private lessons.
Bernard Sutter - Associate Pro - Marin Aug 19, 1965 - Dec 2, 2021
Coach Bernard Sutter passed away on Dec 2nd, 2021. He went into CPMC in late November with a severe blood infection and had suffered a number of strokes. He had an existing heart problem, which complicated his treatment, and made any type of recovery very difficult. He had a wonderful team of doctors doing everything they could for him
He had many friends from Tiburon in constant contact with him at the hospital. They were there for him every step of the way and made sure he had the best care possible as well as got the word out to his friends and family. He was not alone, and many of us had a chance to see him and tell him how much we loved him before he passed.
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Bernard was a wonderful man and an amazing tennis coach who brought so much joy and happiness to so many families. He loved what he did. He will be terribly missed.
With deep sadness,
William Higgins
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Bio: Originally from Toulouse, France, Bernard taught tirelessly for over 30 years. He was certified by the French Federation Tennis Association and USPTA. Bernard taught all around the world, including Toulouse (FR), Martinique (Caribbean), Los Angeles, Hawaii, Berkeley and Moraga. He was the Head Coach for the legendary Robert Lansdorp Junior Program (coach of Pete Sampras, Tracy Austin, Maria Sharapova, and many more). He taught for 12 years at Moraga Country before coming to Higgins Tennis in the summer of 2012. He has worked with 1000s of students and coached numerous Adult USTA teams and adults and children from beginners on up to the nationally ranked level. He has a passion for the game and enjoys teaching players of all ages and abilities.
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