The Year 2021 saw the San Diego Wounded Warrior Tennis Program resume activities after a pandemic-related hiatus. The program, which serves wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans of all ages, had suspended in-person programming for 18 months.
The weekly Wounded Warrior Tennis Clinics at the Balboa Tennis Club restarted in September and have been ongoing. The free Clinics provide professional instruction, tennis play and lunch. The clinics, along with the program’s annual national camps, serve the mission of using tennis as a means of rehabilitation and community reintegration.
Another Wounded Warrior activity in late 2021 involved featured participation in the Military Appreciation Day of the San Diego Open, an ATP 250 professional tennis tournament. The Open sponsored tickets and honored the Warriors by presenting them on center court between matches in a military appreciation ceremony. The ceremony involved a military singer, color guard and speech by tournament co-chair Jack McGrory.
Participation in the Open’s Military Appreciation Day immersed the Warriors in two of the tennis world’s intriguing stories from the past year.
First was the the unprecedented splash of men’s tennis greatness in San Diego. San Diego had never hosted an ATP tournament but was granted a 1-year license to host due to the Covid-related cancellation of the ATP tour’s Asian swing. The Open also served as a warmup for the next week’s BNP Paribas Open in nearby Indian Wells, which had been rescheduled from March. The San Diego Open thus drew eight of the top-20 players in the world, extraordinary for an ATP 250 tournament.
The Warriors watched several of these top players in action as well as recent US Open and Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson.
Another of the top tennis-related stories from 2021 was the rise of San Diego Open competitor Sebastian Korda and his sisters Nelly and Jessica Korda. The siblings were raised by two tennis greats to athletic superstardom. Father Petr reached world #2 in professional tennis while mother Regina reached #26. In golf this past year, Nelly won the Olympic gold and achieved her current ranking of world #1, while Jessica reached world #11. Sebastian, the youngest sibling, once defeated Nelly in a golf tournament but then turned to tennis. This past year, at age 21, Sebastian reached #38 in the ATP world rankings, coached by Dean Goldfine. Another Goldfine pupil, Andy Roddick, described Sebastian in a Wimbledon Tennis Channel broadcast as the “best American prospect in a long, long time.”
The Warriors connected with the Korda family team when they met and hit with Sebastian, Petr and coach Goldfine. The Kordas and Goldfine signed the Warriors’ shirts and exchanged tennis gear. The next week at the BNP Paribas Open, Petr was seen sporting a logoed Warrior shirt.
The Wounded Warrior Tennis Program is run by the San Diego District Tennis Association with invaluable help from many volunteers, charitable supporters and sponsors including the Balboa Tennis Club, which donates court time and hosts the weekly clinics and annual national camps. Further information about the program can be found at www.sdwoundedwarriortennis.org.