OPTA Blog

  By Mike Holder: Andy grew up in Winston-Salem and was introduced to tennis by legendary Wake Forest coach Jim Leighton. He would end up playing for Coach Leighton at WFU. Then, after college, he played professionally, taught tennis in the US and Germany, became an assistant coach at Clemson, head Coach at McCallie school, and assistant coach at Wake Forest.  While an assistant coach at Wake Forest, Andy went to law school and has been practicing law for 30 years.  He joined Olde Providence in 1997 and loves all racket sports including tennis, ping pong, paddle, and pickleball. He, also, enjoys biking and hiking and is looking forward to getting back to all of these activities following recent ankle replacement surgery.  Andy and his wife Tammy have two children, Ally and Gabe. His oldest son Tucker passed away in 2011 and they hold the Tucker Leighton Avram tennis clinics in his honor spearheaded and founded by Pender Murphy. Please visit tlatennis.com for more information. What wou

By Mike Holder: Billy Wilkinson began his career in professional tennis traveling the world as a touring player. Later, after becoming a coach, he quickly made an impact on the WTA Tour, finding success prior to the age of 30. Working with the International Tennis Association, he became a National Women’s coach for both the LTA (Great Britain) and Tennis Australia. He was a coach/hitting partner with notable players such as Peng Shuai, Jenny Hopkins, Venus Williams, and Serena Williams early in his coaching career. Wilkinson would go on to coach many top players such as US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer, top-10 Johanna Konta, top-25 Jarmila Gajdosova, and top-50 Heather Watson, to name a few. He returned to Olde Providence Racquet Club where he received his very first tennis lesson as a kid. Billy discussed playing and coaching tennis, the impact that the sport can have on an individual, and more: What made you decide to become a coach? Was there a particular moment where you knew