Tennis Professionals & Staff
Our staff of seasoned Tennis Professionals and Staff are available for Clinics and Lessons to help you meet your Tennis goals.
Sabina Simmonds - Academy Director
Sabina’s lifetime purpose and daily mission is to lead by example, and to inspire current and future generations of tennis players to be good people with strong values, while striving for excellence. As a USPTA professional she encourages her students to seek the highest standards, to be the best they can be, and to never stop learning no matter their age. She has more than 30 years of coaching experience, first in Italy and since 2015, in the US. She has been responsible for the developmental path of juniors from 10 and under to professional level, and has conducted private and group adult coaching. Sabina played 11 years on tour as a professional tennis player, where she ranked 8 years in the top 100 with a best ranking of #26. As Italy’s top player for 6 years she proudly represented her country in Fed Cup competition and was 3 times National Champion.
Misha Ayelov - Academy Coach
Misha grew up in the Soviet Union where he was a top ten junior player, winning several national Soviet Union junior tournaments. He was ranked in the top 3 juniors under age 18 in Uzbekistan. He began coaching tennis in 1995 and has worked with top players around the world. Misha has twenty years of experience coaching in Israel, including a ten year stent at the Israel Tennis Centers where he coached the top eight players in Israel. His players have won ETA and ITF events. He completed the Advanced Tennis coaches school and is a certified Tennis Instructor. He holds certifications from the Registry of Tennis Professionals for training, stress tennis training, European professional and International Professional.
Dhiren Rathod - Teaching Professional
Dhiren grew up in Mumbai, India where he was ranked 4th in 18 and under division. He is a certified USPTA- Elite teaching pro with 35 years of experience under his belt. Dhiren has worked at racquet clubs in Charlotte and worked as a Director of Tennis at Cramer Mountain CC. He has worked with all levels of play ( Hot shots, juniors, high school varsity teams, college and pro level players) and given private and group lessons. He also trained under legendary coach Harry Hopman at Harry Hopman International academy in Florida and worked with ATP players.
Few of Dhiren’s Achievements:
Tennis scholarships to Anderson Jr. College now AU and UNCC
Played # 2 at Anderson, Conference winner at # 2 position
Played #1 at UNCC, Finalist at Sun Belt Conference, most valuable player
Played 4 years on the ATP tour as a professional tennis player, ranked # 760
Inducted in Tennis Hall of Fame at AU
Claude Underwood - Teaching Professional
A native of Lexington, NC, Claude coached high school sports in both North and South Carolina. Certified by the US Professional Tennis Registry, he taught tennis in Rock Hill, SC and Lake Norman, NC before joining the Charlotte Indoor team. He is the proud father of Anne Marie, who played four years of tennis at West Virginia University, and Blake who played football at Guildford College. He’s also a proud grandfather of two adorable grandchildren.
Josh Du Toit - Teaching Professional / Admin
South African born Josh DuToit has been part of the local Charlotte tennis scene since he moved here at the age of 7. Growing up Josh always had a tennis racquet in his hand and by the age of 10 he had captured the Tarheel and NC State titles. He went on to win 9 state closed championships, was number 1 in every age group in NC and was named USTA North Carolina Male Junior Player of the year for 2014. Josh captained and played line 1 for Ardey Kell High School and earned the award for 4A West Regional singles as well as Southwestern 4A Men’s Tennis Player of the Year 2013 and 2014. Josh went 48-6 in his two years at AK. He was the no.4 ranked senior recruit in NC according to tennis recruiting.net and finished 2013 ranked No 1 in state USTA boys 18 division. He was a 4-year starter for Wingate University, which was a top five nationally ranked team in 2018 and won two conference titles. Josh was awarded 1st team all conference honors in doubles in 2017 and 2018, named 2018 Men’s Tennis MVP by SAC and ranked top 10 in the nation in doubles in D2. He has just graduated from Wingate with a Bachelor of Science degree
Jill Morse Teaching Professional / Admin
Jill moved to Charlotte when she was 3 from Denver Colorado. She started playing tennis when she was 11 and eventually moved to Charleston SC for a tennis academy. She trained in Charleston for 4 years, until she headed to college.
She competed her first two years at Arkansas State and then transferred back home to Queens University of Charlotte. In the SAC Conference, she was 1st team for Doubles and Singles. In Division II, she had a personal high raking of Top 25 Singles and Top 20 Doubles. She graduated in May 2023 with a bachelors in Business Administration. Jill has been teaching tennis for 6 years and she absolutely loves it.
Jocelyn Feirer / Admin
Jocelyn was born and raised in Iowa, and moved to Charlotte in 2022. She found her love of pickleball when living in San Marcos, Texas in early 2020. You can find her in the office or on the pickleball courts teaching and playing.
