Meet Our Pros

Director of Tennis

A native of Australia and a USPTA Elite Professional, Bryce Cunningham brings prestigious international experience as a player, coach, and in tennis management to The Club at La Costa and Cliff Drysdale Tennis. Bryce joined Cliff Drysdale Tennis Management in 2008 and since has worked at several world renowned tennis resorts across the county including the Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne in Florida. In 2013, Bryce was named USPTA Pro of the Year for the Florida panhandle and in 2016, the Omni La Costa Tennis Center was named USPTA Club of The Year for the San Diego Division under his management.

Norman comes to Cliff Drysdale Tennis after most recently serving as the Assistant Program Coordinator at New Rochelle Racquet Club in New York and Tennis Director at the Christmas Cove Improvement Association in South Bristol, ME. Hailing from Boston, MA, Norm brings experience in working with a wide range of students, spanning from 10-and-under to adults, as well as high-performance players. After earning a master’s degree in sports management, Norm knew coaching was his passion, and he built his coaching philosophy around developing strong habits and building confidence for his students. His career began with coaching high school teams, running local summer tennis programming, and serving as the Assistant Coach for the Men's and Women's Tennis teams at Williams College and he’s thrilled to now be in California as a member of the Cliff Drysdale Tennis Team.

Program Director

Brought to us by the small town of Eaton Rapids, Michigan, Daniel is a recent graduate of the 12 month PTU Program offered through Cliff Drysdale Tennis Management. Daniel played four years of varsity high school tennis, then turned around and coached that same team for two years. Daniel’s favorite shot is his backhand and likes to hit a tweener from time to time. Daniel loves to work with and teach players of all different ages and ability levels... and whether you like high energy or high performance, Daniel does it all! If you see Daniel around, never hesitate to say hello. Before joining the team at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, Daniel was most recently a teaching professional tennis at one of our sister clubs, the Omni Amelia Island Plantation in Amelia Island, Florida.

Tennis Professional
USPTA certified and USRSA stringing

Brian has been teaching at the resort since 2005. Brian attended the University of Rhode Island and played two years of division 1 tennis singles and doubles - making all rookie his freshman year. He works with adults and children and is available for lessons and clinics.

Tennis Professional

David was born and raised in Czech Republic and started playing tennis with his dad and his brothers at the age of 6. As a junior player, David played high level domestic and international junior tournaments throughout Europe. David achieved #2 ranking in Czech and won the national championship in doubles. David was also ranked top 40 in Europe in boys 14’s. David came to the U.S. in 2019 to study and play college tennis at Northwood University in Michigan, a Division II school. David played #2 singles and #2 doubles on the tennis team all four years. After graduating, David worked as a tennis professional at Wheaton Sport Center near Chicago, IL before relocating to Carlsbad. David is excited to share his passion for the game and knowledge with players of all ages and skill levels at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.

Sean has been a member of the USPTA since 1984 and has a Pro-1 rating. He attended UC Berkeley and was a member of one of the nation’s top-ranked collegiate men’s tennis teams. Sean has a passion for tennis and enjoys teaching, whether it is fundamentals, tactics or strategy you want to work on; Sean is knowledgeable in all facets of the game.

Tennis Professional 

Júlia Aliseda Antón comes from Tarragona Spain, but she recently graduated from Northwest Missouri State University with a major in Applied Health: Exercise Science. Julia has been part of the college tennis team at Northwest for the last 4 years where she has been the captain of the women’s team for the last two. Julia had a great college career: in her freshman year, she earned the #57 National Ranking, finished top 8 singles in her region in Fall 2018, Júlia and her team won the regional tournament and qualified for the National tournament in Altamonte Springs, FL where they finished #8 nationally. Moreover, Julia has been recognized as MIAA player of the week in 2021 and received multiple academic honors.

Júlia started playing tennis at 4 years old and competed in her hometown for more than 10 years, including in national tournaments and ITF. In Spain, Julia has been ranked among the best players in her region achieving multiple titles and finals in Catalonia. Teaching experience-wise, Júlia has worked in different tennis clubs in Spain; in the United States, she worked at the 2021 Northwest Missouri tennis camps. Júlia is excited to share her tennis experience and to help players of all levels and ages to improve their tennis skills and abilities at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.

Tennis Professional 

Valentin Bertin was born and raised in Pontoise, France a small suburb near Paris. His love of Tennis started at age 11 with his younger brother and
at this young age he joined the TENNIS CLUB DU VEXIN-THELLE in France where he played in Tennis Tournaments for 10 years and later worked as an instructor and coached tennis for 7 years. The Club was instrumental in building Valentin’s unique style of teaching adults and children. Every year Valentin would travel to Nantes, a city near western France with 10 kids for a 2 week high intensity coaching camp.

Valentin moved to America in early 2022 and joined Cliff Drysdale Management at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa as a full time tennis professional.
Valentin enjoys the California weather and strives to be a Tennis Director one day. He speaks 2 languages and has always been passionate about sports, particularity football and tennis. Valentine is available for lessons and clinics daily.

Pickleball Professional  

Gee Gee is a natural gifted athlete who started playing tennis at age 6, and never stopped playing. She was a top 10 ranked junior tennis player in Southern California in all age categories, nationally ranked player, and achieved the honor of Player of the Year. With all her success on the tennis court, led her to earning innumerable number of scholarships to Division I universities all over the United States.
 
Gee Gee has over 25 years coaching experience as a professional tennis coach, college coach, high school coach, and a private coach. After college, Gee Gee competed in a few WTA pro events, USTA National Level I tournaments winning many national titles. She represented the USA Suzanne Lenglen Team as a member, and as a Captain internationally. Gee Gee has a world title winning the ITF World Championship in doubles.

Then Gee Gee, who loves sports found another passion, the sport of pickleball. The first time Gee Gee picked up a pickleball paddle was in a local tournament after hearing about the game from a friend a week before. Gee Gee’s pickleball playing achievements including winning several pickleball titles and medaling at pro level events which include Tournament of Champions, Hawaii Open, So Cal Classic, Las Vegas Open, 2 time US Open Gold medalist, Canadian National Champion, USAP National multiple medalist. Her highest ranking has been in the top 10. She still competes, but has been spending more time teaching and promoting the game of pickleball to all ages and levels.

Originally from London, England, Joey has been playing tennis since the age of seven. Growing up he was involved in multiple sports and is also a single handicap golfer. Joey played tennis at school and university, and became involved in teaching. Since then tennis has been his passion. He is LTA qualified (Lawn Tennis Association) and PTR certified. Before he moved out to California, Joey was living near Wimbledon and teaching tennis at an Academy within a Private school. He specializes in junior tennis and has run successful junior camps in the UK and in Greece.

Matt was born and raised on the North Shore of Sydney. He was a top ranked Australian Tennis Junior and achieved playing success at ITF, Futures, and Challenger Levels on the Pro Circuit. He then moved to Spain to coach at the Top Academy in Europe Sanchez Casal where he was surrounded by some of the best coaches and players in the world including Andy Murray, Anna Ivanovic, Feliciano Lopez, Albert Costa, Janko Tipsarevic and Daniela Hantuchova. Matt is a Tennis Australia Qualified ‘Club Professional’ Coach and is also a recognized ‘Talent Development’ Coach for Tennis Australia.

A top national junior player in his native Iran, Reza competed in ITF Tournaments before moving to the United States. He played collegiate tennis for Palomar College then transitioned into coaching full time. Reza is a PTR certified professional with over six years of teaching experience working with players of all ages and abilities. He has been coaching throughout San Diego county for the last several years at various sites and also working with the Youth Tennis League before joining the Cliff Drysdale staff at Omni La Costa Resort full time.

Cammy MacGregor has been a certified USPTA instructor for the last 15 years and played on the WTA Tour for nine years. Cammy competed in all of the Grand Slams, highlighted by reaching the 4th round in singles at the 1989 Australian Open. She currently serves on the USPTA Board and was named USPTA female player of the year in 1998, 2000 and 2009.

Tennis Professional
USPTA certified

Darren is a USPTA PTR certified coach from Visalia, CA. He has spent the last 10 years coaching Division 1 tennis at Gonzaga University and Eastern Washington University in Spokane, WA. In 2008, Haworth was named Big Sky Coach of the year in his second season at EWU and led his team to the program’s first ever NCAA appearance vs. UCLA. At Gonzaga, Haworth led the Zags men’s team to their first West Coast Conference Championship. He also coached at the University of Redlands where both mens and womens teams had Top 10 Division III national rankings. Darren worked as the Head Professional at the Visalia Racquet Club as well as the Fig Garden Swim and Racket Club in Fresno, CA. He enjoys working with all ages and believes that tennis is a lifelong sport that keeps people healthy and active. In his free time Darren likes to backpack, surf, play soccer and continue learning new coaching techniques. He and his wife Autumn are excited to explore all the new restaurants and sights SoCal has to offer!

Tennis Professional

Originally from Albury, Australia, Jarrod Liston has spent his past six years in the U.S. playing and teaching tennis. Jarrod played college tennis at Midwestern State University where he started in singles and doubles and captained the team for three years, helping lead them to two NCAA Division 2 Quarter Finals. At Midwestern State, he also received his degree in Exercise Physiology and a Minor in Biology, as well as becoming USPTA certified. Jarrod has worked at the Margaret Court Tennis Academy in Australia, Wichita Falls Country Club in Texas, and Southampton Bath and Tennis in New York.

Alejandro Andino is a former player of the Men's Tennis Team at Barry University, MI and University of South Carolina-Aiken. Alejandro became a NCAA Div II National Champion in 2013 playing for Barry University, and he also reached #731 in the ATP doubles tour. Alejandro is originally from Madrid, Spain, and has more than four years of experience in teaching tennis of all levels and ages. He also worked three years as a professional hitting partner in the Madrid Open Masters 1000 where he got to play with players like Rafael Nadal, Richard Gasquet, Agnieszka Radwanska among others.

Jakub was born and raised in Wroclaw, Poland. He was a top ranked Polish junior tennis player competing all over the country and Europe in tournaments.  He later moved to Spain to train at a world renowned Tennis Academy, Sanchez-Casal, where he learned from former professionals such as Emilio Sanchez, Sergio Casal, Pat Cash and Angel Gimenez. He then competed on an international level in ETA and ITF tournaments. Jakub was also a training partner of Hubert Hurkacz ranked no. 33 ATP in 2019.

He maintained a student-athlete lifestyle for the course of his studies at the university in Cambridge, UK where he was a core player for the Men’s Tennis Team. He graduated from university with a degree in law and was successful in his university tennis campaign before moving to the United States to join Cliff Drysdale Tennis management full time at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.

Tennis Professional

Michael was born in Poland, where he was Top 10 player in the country and reached quarterfinals in all junior age categories. He has gained experience all over Europe competing, ending as #874 in ITF Juniors while also trying his strength in Futures tournaments and as assistant coach for young players in his hometown. He was also hitting partner for ATP TOP 100 Michał Przysiężny (#57 singles) and Tomasz Bednarek (#44 doubles) before moving to the USA to begin working with Cliff Drysdale Tennis Management at Omni La Costa.

Tennis Professional 

Harrison was born and raised in Kennesaw, Georgia. He was a top junior player in the state and the southern region, competing at the highest level junior tournaments. Harrison played college tennis at Anderson University where his team reached #29 in the nation. Since graduating, Harrison has worked as the Assistant Tennis Director at Georgia Club in Athens, Georgia. He also worked with the UGA Women’s team when they reached #4 in the nation. Most recently, Harrison was a Tennis Professional at ATI High Performance Tennis academy in Marietta, Georgia before joining the Cliff Drysdale team at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.

Tennis Professional 

A Houston native and Texas boy at heart, Caleb grew up playing tennis in his grandparents garage from 2 years old. While playing juniors, and training at Walden Racquet Club, Caleb was number 1 in his division for the state of Texas at 16. His freshman year of high school, his team placed second in the state of Texas and his junior year competed in the Regional Tournament for 6A Individual Spring Tennis. His senior year, he trained at one of the most prestigious clubs in Texas and played D1, line 2 doubles at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK. Caleb proceeded to be a high school tennis coach and then transitioned to working for CDT full time. Caleb has worked at 3 CDT locations including a: private country club, resort and club, and private community and club. As a certified USPTA Professional with an elite ranking in private lessons, Caleb has a passion for people, tennis and smiles, often looking for creative ways to teach and connect.

Tennis Professional 

Alessandro Cadena, a tennis coach from Quito, Ecuador, brings passion and expertise to La Costa. A former U18 #1 player in Ecuador, Alessandro has competed in professional and ITF tournaments, building a strong foundation of competitive experience. In college, he went undefeated in singles during his freshman year at the University of Saint Katherine, achieving a top-10 doubles ranking in the West Region. Later, he competed at the Division 2 level with Biola University while earning a business degree and receiving multiple athletic and academic awards. Alessandro discovered his love for coaching at 16, teaching at his father’s academy in Ecuador while pursuing his own professional and junior tennis career. Now, he helps players of all ages and skill levels grow their game, focusing on personalized strategies and building confidence.

Tennis Professional 

Elijah was born and raised in Athens, Georgia. He grew up with a passion for tennis and at the age of 16 became PTR Certified and began teaching tennis. Elijah went on to play NCAA tennis at Allegheny College for three semesters at #5 singles and #3 doubles. Elijah graduated with a bachelor’s in science in Environmental Science from Berry College where he played #2 singles, #1 doubles and #3 doubles. Elijah’s junior year of college he began his teaching career with Cliff Drysdale Tennis Management at our Rome, Georgia location before relocating across the county to Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in the spring of 2024.

Tennis Professional 

Blad has extensive experience in tennis as both a player and coach. Over the past four years, he coached at the University of Saint Katherine, helping student-athletes excel on and off the court. Previously, he coached at Loyola University New Orleans, further honing his collegiate tennis expertise. Blad has also coached at local high schools like La Costa Canyon and San Dieguito Academy, as well as the renowned Angelica Gavaldon Academy, where he worked with top Mexican junior players. As a player, he competed at the University of Illinois Springfield, gaining firsthand insight into collegiate tennis. With a passion for mentoring athletes and developing programs, Blad is thrilled to join the Cliff Drysdale Team and inspire others to explore the joy of tennis.