USPTA instructor Keith Hayes attended Pepperdine University in the 1980s.
There, he encountered Head Tennis Coach Allen Fox and became a counselor at his summer tennis camps, beginning a tennis teaching career – and a friendship with Allen – that has continued ever since. After Pepperdine, Keith went to work in the San Francisco Bay Area advertising and graphic design industries. Later he also became an English teacher. As head coach of the Marin Catholic High School women’s tennis team, Keith won back-to-back Division II North Coast Section titles in 2008 and 2009. When he’s not teaching tennis, Keith continues to work as a freelance writer and designer. In addition to Tennisplayer.net, his stories have also appeared in
TENNIS magazine.
Keith Hayes
When I was a kid I used to watch in awe as Bill Hager, then in his early thirties, moved effortlessly around the court and beat the best players at my local courts, Boyle Park in Mill Valley, California. Aside...
They say tennis is the sport for a lifetime, but over the years I've seen it tear families in two. Just name the relationship - married couples, siblings, parents and children - and I've seen a fight break out on...
In the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open, Nicolas Almagro knocked Thomas Berdych to the ground with a close-range forehand. After winning the match in four contentious sets, Berdych refused to shake Almagro's hand and left the court to...
Can you tell good tennis players just by looking at them? How do they carry themselves? What do they wear? Then again, what is a good tennis player? I coach a high school team and my number one player definitely...
In 1987, I had an unusual job. I studied art at Pepperdine University, but I worked weekends at the Malibu Racquet Club as a "hitter," or "tennis gigolo" as my dad enjoyed putting it. Although I'd done some instructing in...
I was 42, and I'd never had an undefeated season in anything. It didn't bother me, though, because I'd played on a number of teams before and had followed enough other teams, both pro and amateur, to understand how elusive...
Shrewd. I think that word actually landed me the job. In 1984, I was a freshman at Pepperdine University. During my second semester, I learned that Dr. Allen Fox - head coach of the Pepperdine men's tennis team, a former...