Brighton tennis pro looks forward to being back on the court
Natalie Grandin has played in many tournaments throughout the world, including all the grand slams.
“TENNIS is an amazing sport, it teaches you a lot about life, patience, perseverance, discipline, passion, manners, hard work to name a few which are all valuable life skills.” These are the sentiments of a passionate Natalie Grandin, one of the Bluff’s most talented tennis players and coach.
Natalie was introduced to tennis by her parents who were both avid tennis players. “They both played club tennis and I used to spend all weekend at the club with my family. I did play many other sports but tennis was always my number one sport. My earliest memory of playing tennis was at Wanderes Tennis Club with my parents with a wooden tennis racket under my arm. They would roll the ball to me and I would drag the racket along trying to hit the ball. Once I finished school I went straight onto the professional tennis circuit. I turned professional in 1999 and stopped playing in 2014,” she reminisced.
Currently, she plays tennis socially and competitively as well as coaches at Brighton Tennis Club. Natalie also plays in the league team and reckons that Brighton has the strongest ladies team in KZN. “Every year the club enters the Growthpoint Top Gun National Club Championships. For the past two years we have won the KZN section of the event and was the runners up in the nationals two years ago.”
There is no stopping her when she hits the court, armed with her racket. She has played in many tournaments throughout the world, including all the grand slams. Some of her other impressive achievements include making the quarter finals of the Australian Open in Doubles, winning the Hansol Korea Open in Doubles with her partner from Czech Republic as well as winning a singles tournament in Lexington, Kentucky.
Natalie and her husband, Gary Comins have paid their passion forward by sharing it with other aspiring tennis players through their tennis academy called Impact Tennis Academy.
“I am passionate about tennis and wanted to share my knowledge and passion with people who are interested in learning tennis. It has been worthwhile, our business has grown over the last 3-4 years, we coach children from a number of Bluff schools at Brighton Tennis Club and DPHS at Mitchell Park Tennis Club. We cater for beginner, intermediate and advanced players of all ages. Gary and I are also contracted to run all the KZN Junior Tennis tournaments which is about 10 tournaments throughout the year. We hope it continues to grow after the lockdown has finished.”
Asked what impact the national coronavirus lockdown has had on her and the club, Natalie said the lockdown has put a major halt on the club and their academy as they are unable to coach at all at this time. “All the tennis tournaments that we were supposed to coordinate in April, May and June have been cancelled or postponed. Professional tennis players throughout the world have had to stop playing and competing,” said a disappointed Natalie.
Anyone interested in taking up tennis can contact Natalie on 081-088-3858 or email durbschic81@aol.com
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