Jay Berger

October 15, 2025

“My earliest memory of tennis was in Plantation, Florida. My dad, who is a periodontist, loved tennis. We used to hit in the street. I got seven dollars from my grandmother for Hanukkah, went out and bought my first tennis racquet, and fell in love with the sport. To be honest, growing up, there was almost never a moment where I thought tennis could be a pathway. I was always a little bit smaller; good, not great. I wasn’t a dominating player. When I was a senior in high school, I knew I wasn’t good enough to go pro. Really, everybody went to college. I think the only person that didn’t, from my era, was Aaron Krickstein, he was a phenom. It was always going to be college for me. I went to college for two years. After my freshman year of college, I actually got to the Round of 16 at the US Open, played Yannick Noah on the stadium court, and went back to school for another year. I just loved college and my teammates, I didn’t want to leave them hanging. After that, though, I think that’s when I was like, “I can do this.” Throughout my (more…)

Craig Brotman

October 7, 2025

“I was a ranked junior in Maryland, but it’s pretty funny how I got into stringing. I qualified for the Mid-Atlantic clay court championships and dropped off two Head Graphite Directors back in the day with a local stringer. The stringer left out the two bottom strings, so I didn’t pay her for the labor. She took me to small claims court, I countered, won, and, as a result of the issue, my dad bought me a stringing machine. After I graduated high school, I went to Bollettieri and got to know Jimmy Arias, since he was my roommate. When he played at the Citi Open, I snuck in and took care of all the guys because Jimmy would introduce me to them, and that’s how I really got started. Even to this day, despite not playing, I feel like I’m very much involved. I was a good junior, but I love this side. I’m creative and enjoy working with my hands. Also, indirectly, I have an effect on how their results are – I could win them a match or lose them a match. It’s a cool space to be in because I get to watch the journey of (more…)