TESTIMONIALS
Throughout a competitive player's developmental journey, it is common that multiple Coaches impact their journey. Below is a small sample from the hundreds of high level players that were developed by our Director Joao Pinho. While it is important to note the level of player's, it is just as important to emphasize the impact on the personal development that was made on the players. As the saying goes, "A good Coach can change a game, a great Coach can change a life."
PLAYER TESTIMONIALS
RONIT KARKI
Since I was 6 years old, I have worked with coach Joao “Jay” Pinho. Together, we developed crucial fundamentals and tactics that have stuck with my game until this day. We also focused on certain specifics that were crucial to my game style, such as my deep backhand and serve. Lastly, in order to maximize my on court performance, we discussed and adapted my off court routines and training. This not only helped my mental, but also my ability to learn from matches and identify areas of improvement quicker. A few of Coach Jay’s values which are apparent in his coaching are his discipline to his craft, and passion towards improving your game. Whenever we spend time on court, it is always effective and useful to improving my game. Not only that, every time I stepped on court with coach Jay I always came off court having learned something new. Looking back, I could not have gotten to this point in my tennis career without Jay’s mentorship. Thanks to his help, many opportunities have arose for my tennis and I am only looking forward to taking my tennis to the next level.“
Ronit Karki, #1 in the country B12s, B14s, B16s, Top 10 B18s, ITF 130. Class of 2026
ISHAAN RAVICHANDER
Coach Pinho worked with me starting at age 8 until I was age 15. In my formative years, Coach Pinho put me through rigorous training both on the court and in the gym that allowed me to not only improve on the tennis court but instilled values of discipline, resilience, and work ethic that have successfully prepared me for life on the pro tour and thereafter.
On the court, my level improved dramatically. When we began to work together I was around 120 in my grade. By the time I entered my freshman year when we stopped working together I’d become top 30 in the country for my class. Some results achieved over the course of my career thanks to Coach Pinho are:
- Reaching the Round of 16 at every USTA Level 1 National Championship in singles
- Boys’ 18s National Winter Championships Champion
- Career High of Number 4 in the Country for the Class of 2020
- ATP Career High Rankings of 1344 in Singles and 1450 in Doubles
Ishaan Ravichander, Columbia University NCAA DI
NAOMI KARKI
I began working with Coach Jay when I was 9 years old. From the start, Coach Jay had a calm demeanor and showed he was a true intellectual of the game. He encouraged this attitude in both me and other students, and it is now one of my proudest strengths. Along with this attitude, he emphasized discipline, respect, and honesty on and off the court, which has helped me in various aspects of life as a whole.
Jay has always shown great patience and belief in me and all of his students. He instills great fundamentals in players while recognizing their respective talents and strengths. By doing this, he uses their talents and strengths to make them even better at what they do and more complete players.
But out of everything, what has stuck with me the most from working with Jay is how he’s made me a student of the game. In practice, he would always challenge me to find the root cause of my mistake. Every time I stepped on the court with him, I learned something new, whether it was related to a specific shot, my mindset, or a new strategy.
As I continue to grow as a player, having this productive, learning mindset is what makes this sport so enjoyable. Now I have taken my game to the Big 10 conference where I get to compete against some of the top players in the country. And using what I’ve learned from years of Jay’s advice and coaching to has been essential for my improvement and successes.
Naomi Karki, Rutgers University NCAA DI
NOLAN SHAH
Coach Jay and I worked together for over six years during my junior tennis days. Spending time with him both on and off the court prepared me for every stage of my tennis career. Jay played an instrumental role in my development, providing early technical and tactical development that carried from the 12s through the 18s and into collegiate tennis.
While I always enjoyed being imaginative on the tennis court, most coaches would push for a more rigid style of play. However, Jay embraced my creativity and helped me make it one of the most effective parts of my game. His expertise in coaching doubles was particularly exceptional, and I attribute much of my success on the doubles court to his guidance.
Nolan Shah, Top 3 in the Section from 12s to 18s, Junior National Champion, Emory University NCAA DIII National Champion, All America, Two-Time NCAA DIII National Doubles Finalist, Top 10 in the Nation in singles and #2 in doubles
BIREN REDDY
I have had the privilege of training under Jay since I was 11 years old, and I strongly recommend him to anybody looking to take their tennis to the next level. Jay possesses a deep knowledge of the technical aspects of the game, and will be sure to provide you with the foundation needed to compete at the national level as a junior and in collegiate tennis. Jay also epitomizes professionalism, upholding exceptional standards of discipline and work ethic, which he instills in his students. The values and standards I learned from Jay not only improved my mental and physical toughness as a player, but prepared me for success off the court as well. Finally, Jay's enthusiasm for teaching is evident in his dedication to his students, as he demonstrates a personal commitment to their growth and success.
Under Jay's mentorship, I climbed from being unranked player to achieving a 4-star rating, leading to my recruitment to play college tennis at the University of Chicago. Jay is the ideal coach for those looking to elevate their game and will help you set the foundation for success in both tennis and life!
Biren Reddy, University of Chicago NCAA 2023 National Champion
FRANCESCA FANCHIN
I started to train with João back from September 2017 to May 2019. It was probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with a coach. He is extremely detail oriented and completely reworked my forehand and volley technique for the better. I had good success in doubles while playing ITFs at the time. My favorite thing about our training sessions was he was patient and had a great way of explaining things on court; whether it be strategy, technique or fundamentals.
I competed in several tournaments while we worked together and one of my most successful moments was reaching both the third round in singles and the semifinals in a doubles 15k in Israel. My highest ranking in doubles was in 2018 at 1202 in WTA and an ITF singles ranking of 1083 in 2018.
Francesa Fanchin, former ITF/WTA Pro Player
SOFIA IANTOSCA
I worked with Coach Jay for two years during a crucial point in my recruiting process, and his commitment to my development as a player was invaluable. Together we defined clear goals to ensure I maximized my court time, given that I was still attending high school in person. He helped me both technically and tactically on court, and we routinely discussed my progress and ambitions. I am extremely thankful for the time we worked together, and he is an incredible coach that truly cares about his students.
Sofia Iantosca, Cornell University NCAA DI
MAX CALAQUIAN
I am Max Calaquian and I have been Coach Jay’s player for over 7 years now. I have come back to Coach Jay for any coaching advice and help with college. Coach Jay has helped me become a smarter player over the years, teaching me all sorts of strategies that benefit my game. He does a great job of developing players and building weapons for them. Coach Jay has not only been a great tennis coach and player but a mentor for me. He always helps me out and takes me out of my own head when I’m being negative. Jay has been with me since the beginning of my tennis journey he has guided me and educated me about everything that I could face on and off the tennis court. I find Jays coaching to be very helpful and beneficial. I would like to thank him so much for everything he has done throughout my tennis journey.
Max Calaquian, ITF ranked junior
DEVON DE SANCTIS
Jay has been my tennis coach since I first started playing tennis, nine years ago. During my formative years, Jay was extremely helpful on court, teaching me the fundamentals of technique and tactic, while simultaneously being a mentor and friend. On court, Jay can be attributed for most of my tennis knowledge and tactical IQ. Having set the basis for my technique, I often find myself going back to fundamental ideas and drills that Jay taught me as a young kid. Being a student-athlete in college, I do not have accessibility to private lessons or personalized help, thus leaving me to coach myself. During practices, I often tell myself to be a “swimming duck,” a small phrase Jay embedded in me to keep my upper body stable while moving my feet—the fundamentals that Jay has left me with have been incredibly helpful during my time as a collegiate athlete. Further, during my years as his student, Jay emphasized the development of an all-court game. In doing so, we spent lots of time developing my slices, volleys, overheads, and general touch game. As someone who plays both doubles and singles for my team, having confidence in my ability to transition into the net and moreover, defend, attack, and neutralize the point through my net game is imperative. By developing a touch game early on in my athletic career, Jay prepared me to play high level junior tournaments in both singles and doubles and even further, play at a Division I level in college.
Off the court, Jay has been a mentor of mine since I first stepped on the court with him. As a young kid, I really struggled with my self confidence and did not feel as though I could express my feelings. Jay placed heavy emphasis on the importance of mental toughness and confidence for both on and off court development. I always felt, and still feel, extremely comfortable to speak with Jay. As I continue facing tribulations in my athletic, academic, and personal life, I often find myself reaching out to Jay. On a small scale, Jay helped me to strengthen my self-confidence both on and off the court, yet his role as a mentor and friend has helped me in innumerable ways.
From the age of ten, I have met and worked with multiple coaches. Through my experience as a junior and now collegiate player, the importance of having a good coach is indispensable. In my nine years of having Jay as a coach, he has ignited a love for tennis within me. As an empathetic coach who develops connections with each of his players, Jay shapes players both on and off the court (my experience being a prime example) and I am so grateful for the time I have spent, and will continue to spend, as one of his players.
Devon De Sanctis, Marist College NCAA DI
ARYAN BADLANI
I worked with Coach Jay for many years including groups and privates. I had a great time working with him in which I was able to develop many new skills in my game to make me a better player. For example, I significantly improved might shot selection when training with coach Jay. For many years that was my biggest weakness but through the drills and advice he gave me it helped me significantly. Another instance, is the phrase he told me” play the ball”. This phrase is very powerful to me because it keeps reminding me to just play the ball instead of the person on the other side of the court. When I play the ball it will help me focus on my goals and play simple. Not only physically and mentally I became stronger but he also taught me the importance to do the right things starting from the warmup when I step on the court. I believe this is very important because then it creates a habit of doing the right things over and over which leads to discipline in my tennis. Lastly, I’ve gone through many ups and downs in might tennis journey but coach Jay always stuck with me every step of the way. Coach jay kept reminding me to trust the process and do the right things and that the results will come. I am very grateful and thankful to have coach Jay as my coach for the past years as I wouldn’t be the player I am right now without him.
Aryan Badlani, ITF Ranked Junior 11+ UTR
POLARIS HAYES
If an onlooker were to watch a sequence of Coach Jay’s private lessons, they might think that already being a polished player was a necessary condition to become one of his private students. Although it is true that his coaching guides his players up the ladder in the competitive pathway, the previous statement couldn’t be further from the truth. I started working consistently with Coach Jay at the age of 12, already having formed unideal technical habits. However, his dedication towards rebuilding my technical and tactical foundation somewhat later in the process is a testament to not only his patience, but his belief in me as a player, irrespective of my starting position. We still joke that he ‘brainwashed’ me into becoming a very consistent, high percentage player, even from the very start of our time working together. Although it is amusing to think that his coaching philosophy drastically changed my playing style, that very same ‘brainwashing’ is what allowed me to become competitive at the national level, playing against girls who were a head taller than me and had far cleaner strokes. With consistent work over the past 5 years, I can confidently say that Coach Jay was an instrumental part of developing my forehand, serve, slice, and net game. Not only did Coach Jay spend time on the parts of my game that needed work, but he also encouraged me to embrace and employ the shots that came more naturally for me, such as my heavy forehand inside-out.
On top of tactical and technical work, I am grateful that Coach Jay helped me drastically rewire my mental side of the game. I struggled for a long time with on-court anger, perfectionism, self abuse, and forgiving myself for making mistakes. As a result, I acknowledge that at times, I was a very challenging player to coach. I will never forget the day when Coach Jay sat me down after a difficult lesson and warned me that he would have to drop me if I continued acting up. He reminded me that the sole criterion for us to continue lessons was that I worked hard and be coachable. It made me want to do better. Instead of comparing my progress with that of other players, he helped me remain focused on my individual development. Instead of focusing on whether I won or lost a match, we measured my success with how well I executed specific goals and strategies. Even at times when Coach Jay had every reason to give up on me, he didn’t. He saw a long-term vision for my development in all aspects of the game, and with his guidance, I was able to reach my goal of playing college tennis at Caltech. I am forever grateful for his wisdom and offer him my highest recommendation as a coach.
Polaris Hayes, California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) NCAA DIII
SOPHIA CAI
Jay coaches not just tennis but also foundational life skills that I have tapped into while competing in another division 1 sport, navigating college and starting my first job in a pandemic.
Jay is very technically sound and constantly studying how to incorporate the newest research & technology into his coaching. But more than anything, he is kind, patient and persistent. And I am grateful for the indelible impact he made on my brother and me during our most formative years — by teaching us how to train, how to talk to ourselves and how to bounce back.
Sophia Cai, Princeton University (coached from 2011-2017)
JEFFEREY CAI
Joao (Jay) Pinho has been one of the most formative figures in my childhood upbringing. He coached me for 6 years, but his impact will extend into my next 60 years.
Between changing my forehand grip and court attitude, Jay helped me achieve a top 100 ranking in B16 and mature as a student athlete.
Above all, Jay showed me how to learn. Mastering a craft requires a blend of optimism, time, and tactics. Now as I consult for F500 executives, I still apply Jay’s “3Ps” as I did a decade ago—be positive, stay patient, run the play.
Jefferey Cai, Brown University
PARENT TESTIMONIALS
RONIT & NAOMI KARKI
We got introduced to coach Joao Pinho or Coach Jay - as we all call him; around year 2012/2013 when he began coaching Naomi, 9 years old and Ronit 6 years old at Nassau tennis club in Montgomery, NJ. Coaching with Jay was one of the most critical elements in both of our kids’ tennis developments. He imprinted in them a strong technical foundation along with tactical strategies and mental aspects of the game which are helping them successfully navigate through their tennis journeys. Naomi is now playing for Rutgers women’s tennis; D1 college and part of the BIG 10 conference. Ronit has taken his quest for the sport to the junior ITF circuit.
Along with being an awesome coach, Jay is an excellent mentor and a positive influence for growing minds. The discipline and passion he has towards tennis and his work is bound to inspire his players.
Kanchan Karki, mother of Naomi and Ronit Karki junior National Champions
VISHNU JOSHI
We have known Coach Joao Pinho during the last five to six formative years of our son's years of junior developing tennis player. Joao was instrumental in coaching Vishnu on the developing his good mental, and tactical skills on and off the court during the 1 on 1 sessions. These valuable lessons Vishnu learned from Coach Pinho has assisted him in many aspects of his academic and professional life on staying poised and focused especially during challenging times. Vishnu was consistently ranked as a top 3 Middle States player from B12, B14, B16, and B18. The played #1 for his high school, and college, and in 2022 was the first player from Hopkins to make it to the NCAA Finals where he lost a tough three set. Academically Vishnu was in the top 1% of his graduating class at Hopkins and was the only player to earn the COSIDA honors for 3 years - honors bestowed to outstanding student athletes from across the nation.
Madhav Joshi, father of Vishnu Joshi, Johns Hopkins University, Class of 2021 (BS Computer Engineering, and Computer Science), 2022 (MSE Computer Science)
DEVON DE SANCTIS
It is not possible to adequately describe the extent to which João (“Jay”) Pinho has contributed to the life of our daughter Devon, both in terms of developing her as a tennis player and in contributing to her growth as a person. Jay has coached Devon since she started playing tennis 9 years ago. When he moved from our town to NYC, he helped Devon continue lesson and drills with him, despite it being on a less frequent basis. He has taught on his day off to continue training Devon and other students that he trained before moving to NYC, driving to a midway point on his own time to make it possible for him to teach the students he taught before moving to NYC. Despite the distance, Jay has been the most reliable and trustworthy coach Devon has had, genuinely caring for and investing in her progression as a tennis player as well as caring for her wellbeing as a developing teenager. Jay’s ability to communicate tennis technique and strategy is excellent. He is clear and definitive in his guidance, but always adjusts the delivery to the individual student to help the student maximize his or her personal outcome. While some coaches have only one approach to training their players, Jay perceives the personality and individual physical strengths and weaknesses of the player and adjusts the technique and strategy to suit each individual player, all within extremely solid parameters. Additionally, Jay has cared for Devon as a person, not just as a player. He listens, considers what she shares and helps her problem solve and develop her own approach to challenging situations on and off the court.
As parents, we have always felt secure that Jay fosters a safe environment for Devon, that he holds her best interests at heart and that he acts as an amazing role model, both as a person and as a mentor. Jay is never selfish. Unlike some coaches who put their interests above that of the player, Jay is uniformly loyal to the best interests of his player. He has continued to guide Devon through her first year of Divsion I college tennis and continues to teach her each time she returns home. I am confident that Devon will continue to reach out to Jay as a mentor and a friend, even after her tennis years are over. A coach in any sport can either have a very positive or a very negative impact on children who are competing under a great deal of pressure while they are also developing as a person. There is no coach I have ever known in any sport that has all of the qualities Jay possess to provide an environment that fosters excellence as an athlete, while simultaneously fostering critical personality traits, including resilience, integrity, and work ethic. These traits are critical to success and happiness, long after the player moves on from tennis into the rest of the player’s life, at whatever age that occurs.
Julia De Sanctis, mother of Devon De Sanctis, Marist University NCAA DI
MAX CALAQUIAN
We have been working with Jay for the last 7 years and he has been a coach and a mentor through Max’s journey on and off court. Jay does not only focus on the tennis skill but the whole individual. Jay continuously helps Max to become a more strategic player, guiding him through his journey on and off court. Jay has been a great example to Max of what it means to work hard, be your best self to become successful. Jay doesn’t only coach Max but help us, as parents, as we navigate through the competitive tennis world. Jay has patiently guided and educated us to help make the right decisions for our son. We truly appreciate Jay and all his guidance through the years.
Pamela Calaquian, mother of Max Calaquian ITF Junior Player
