Le Tennis Academy

“My name is Vanessa Pardo, I was born and raised in France. I was initially a competitive swimmer before being introduced to tennis at the age of 10. I immediately fell in love with the sport!  Within that year, I was very fortunate to be introduced to Daniel Contet who was himself a former #30 singles and #10 Doubles ATP tour player and competed in the David Cup a number of times for France.  Daniel Contet took me under his wing and within two years, I was selected to be with the French Federation (FFT).  I left home at the tender age of twelve and went under rigorous training with the best juniors in my country for the next six years.  I played numerous tournaments on the junior and WTA/ ITF tour with wins in the top #100 and won several team national championships resulting in being in the #5 Juniors in my country.  When I departed from training with the FFT, I went back training with my first coach Daniel Contet and was later on approached to play on a full scholarship for Division #1 in the USA.  I selected Virginia Tech where I played #1 singles and #2 doubles.  We won the Atlantic 10 Championship for four consecutive years. I was the first female player in Atlantic 10 history to earn Most Outstanding Performer and Most Outstanding Rookie Performer honors in the same season (1996).  On my Junior year I had a bad shoulder injury which dragged into my senior year. At that point my aspiration to go back on the pro tour took a dead end and I decided to put my bachelor degree to good use. I’ve had the privilege of training with a lot of great coaches as well as being mentored by few world class professional players.  Looking back, I realized that tennis is more than a sport; it is a way of thinking.  It builds a mindset and characteristics that are useful on and off the court.  I always wanted to give back to the sport in a meaningful way but I was not sure what would be the avenue to take until becoming a mom of two young daughters which put a lot of things into perspective.  Each child is unique, learns differently and has his /her own potential.