Rob Coseo

Rob Coseo
USPTA Tennis Professional
Residence: Venice, Florida
 
 Rob started playing tennis at the age of 8 in his native New England. At age 13 he went to Florida to train with renowned Australian Davis Cup coach, Harry Hopman. He returned to New England where he was given a scholarship to train and teach at the Windridge Tennis Camp in Vermont with coach Ted Hoehn. That year he reached the semi-finals in the Vermont State Junior Championships and was awarded the Jeff Stone Memorial Award for Outstanding Leadership. He honed his teaching and playing skills with USPTA professional Tom Gross in the White Mountains of New Hampshire at the ski resort of Waterville Valley. Later Rob would become certified with the United States Professional Tennis Association earning a P-1 status, the highest recognition for new applicants. He also passed the exam to become a certified stringer with the United States Racquet Stringers Association.

Rob decided to relocate to Florida to pursue a teaching and playing career. He accepted a position in 1992 with the Englewood Tennis Club. During this time Rob coached league teams, developed a junior program, ran drill sessions and added to the social life of club membership. He also started a bus trip to the ATP/WTA Tournament in Miami which operated successfully for 10 years.

In 1995, Rob saw an opportunity to bring the community closer together by creating a local tennis newsletter, The Latest Racquet. The 4 page newsletter began to take on a life of its own and with persistence he grew the publication into a 64 page magazine covering the west coast of Florida from Tampa to Naples. Rob sold the publication in 1999 and accepted a position as the National Marketing and Public Relations Director for the Billy Stearns Tennis Academy.

During his tenure with the Stearns academy he successfully negotiated an academy sponsorship with international clothier FILA. His duties included negotiating sponsorship arrangements for juniors and young touring pros, working with the National USTA High Performance staff, all phases of marketing, as well as traveling the U.S. to national tournaments.

In May of 1999, Rob returned professional women's tennis back to Sarasota after a 23 year hiatus in the form of The Sarasota Open, a USTA/ITF Professional Circuit Event offering $25,000 in prize money. In 2000, Rob tripled the prize money to present the USTA/ITF’s flagship event, a $75,000 Challenger.

In 2002, Rob assembled the financing necessary to achieve his goal of returning a WTA Tour event to Sarasota after a 25 year absence. The event, offering $140,000 in prize money, was won by Jelena Dokic and was declared the strongest Tier IV event in the world, which included now retired Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Mary Pierce, Conchita Martinez and many more.

After enjoying a short sabbatical from the business of tennis, Rob accepted the Director of Tennis position at Courtside Tennis Club in Venice. There he organized all programming, ran drill sessions and coached ladies and men’s teams from the 2.5-4.5 levels, ran a junior program, assisted with the Venice High School girls team, handled retail sales, stringing and special events and tournaments.

In 2004, Rob was contracted to emcee the Stefan Edberg Adidas Fantasy Camp in Scottsdale, Arizona. Along with Edberg, Rob also worked with Martina Hingis, Meghan Shaughnessy and Anna Lena Groenefeld. Rob has also had the privilege of working with several tennis celebrities and legends including; Tim Mayotte, Patrick McEnroe, Johan Kriek, Dick Vitale, Murphy Jensen, Bud Collins, John Lloyd, Sabine Hack, Jill Heatherington, Mary Carillo, Joanne Russell, and the Landers sisters.

Today Rob maintains multi-dimensional business interests ranging from tennis, marketing and real estate. He works as an independent contractor under his company name, Synergy Tennis where he works with private clients and teams. In 2006 and 2007,  he coached two ladies teams to Charlotte county divisional titles.
 

Professional Highlights

USPTA Certified Professional (P-1 designation), 1992

USRSA Certified Stringer

USPTA District 8 President (1996-98, Sarasota/Manatee Counties)

"1997 USPTA/Florida Division Volunteer of the Year"
Program Director for USTA Play Tennis America (Florida)
USTA Schools Clinician (Florida)

2002 Sarasota Open - Tournament Director/co-owner

    (WTA Tier IV $140,000; J. Dokic Champion)
2000 Sarasota Open  - Tournament Director

    (USTA/ITF $75,000 Challenger; M. Shaughnessy Champion)
1999 Sarasota Open  - Tournament Director

    (USTA/ITF $25,000 Challenger; E. de Lone Champion)
Head Sports Advisory Staff

Top 10 ranking- USTA/Florida men's singles
Top 10 ranking- Florida USPTA Reebok professional circuit
1998 BMW Grand Championships- Mixed Doubles Champion, open division

2002 Doubles For Deb Mixed Doubles Finalist, open division
1996-98 Southpointe BMW Grand Championships - Tournament Promoter
"Outstanding Volunteer" -Bay Area Tennis, Sarasota Florida
USTA Player Development Coach/Mid-Atlantic Area Training Center (Baltimore, MD)

"Jeff Stone Memorial", 1984 (Outstanding Leadership), Windridge Tennis Camp, Jeffersonville, Vt.

 
Former Positions

Director of Tennis-Courtside Tennis Club, Venice Florida (2003-2005)

Tennis Professional- Englewood Tennis Club, Florida (1993-1995)
Director of Tennis- Hyatt Regency, Baltimore, MD (1991-1993)
Head Professional- Waterville Valley Resort, New Hampshire (1989-1991)

Counselor- Windridge Tennis Camps, Jeffersonville, VT