OUR coaches are SECOND TO NONE

Each one was chosen based on their proficiency in instruction, their level of play and their enthusiasm for the game.

* Lessons & group reservations for the 2024/2025 Season are available. Call us today! *

Zack Lahmar

Director of Tennis

Zack Lahmar is the Director of Tennis at Kings Highway Tennis Club (one of the most vibrant premier tennis clubs in Connecticut) and oversees the junior and adult programs.

Born and raised in Sweden, Zack reached the top rankings in his country, competed internationally in the ITF junior tour and, as a young adult, was recruited to a top 5 ranked NCAA Division I college team. For several years, after college tennis, Zack traveled the world competing on the ATP circuit. Furthermore, Zack holds a Bachelor’s and a master's degree in Exercise Physiology, and he is a certified strength and conditioning coach. He was a fitness trainer and hitting partner for several famous WTA and ATP players. Zack’s deep-seated knowledge was acquired from years of coaching at diverse training facilities. He has led tennis programs for 2 decades and trained dozens of the top junior tennis players in the New England section. Many of his students have continued playing college tennis with great success.

Zack loves to train, coach, and spend his days at the tennis club. It’s clear he derives a lot of joy from his work as he declared “Kings Highway Tennis Club is a home away from home”.

Clive Ullyett
Senior Tennis Professional

As a junior in Zimbabwe Clive was top in the country in both tennis and squash. After moving to South Africa Clive competed at a top level in tennis, and in the 18's ended up in the top five in the country in doubles and top twenty in singles. In the years before attending the University of South Alabama Clive had wins over world ranked doubles teams. Clive attended the University of South Alabama from 1990 to 1994. As a player Clive earned All-Conference honors in 1992, 1993, and 1994 in doubles and was named All-American in doubles. This was after Ullyett/Kuhn won the All-American National Hard court Tournament in Austin, Texas. Ullyett/Kuhn became the first doubles team in program history to earn All-American honors. In 2006 Clive was selected to the Sunbelt Conference 30-year Anniversary team. After competing in NCAA Division I tennis Clive played satellites and futures for two years and was the Assistant Tennis Coach for the South Alabama men's and women's teams from 1996 to 1998. Clive has worked with nationally ranked collegiate and junior players.

Donovan McSeveney
Senior Tennis Professional

Donovan McSeveney earned his Bachelors Degree in Finance from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2013 where he played Division 1 tennis and received an ATP ranking in 2014. He's also a graduate of Collin College where he received an Associate of Arts Degree and became the first Double All-American, Singles and Doubles National Champion in his freshman year. He went on to claim the Doubles National title again his sophomore year and ended his doubles career ranked #1 in NJCAA. Donovan worked as a Tennis Professional at Roxbury Swim and Tennis Club for three seasons and has been working at Riverside Yacht Club as the Head Pro in the summer of 2017. He also has been a full-time Tennis Pro at Proform Tennis Academy in Rye Brook, NY, since 2016. He originally hails from South Africa, and was selected for the South African Davis Cup camp in 2015. 

David Kimani
Tennis Professional

A native of Kenya, David began playing tennis at the age of 13 years. He was #1 at the University of Nairobi, Kenya from 1989-1992 and a singles finalist at the East African University games in 1992. He was a tour coach and manager of the Junior ITF (International Tennis Federation) Africa team that competed in South Africa, Botswana, Malawi and Zimbabwe from 1994 to 1997. David earned a Master's degree in Sports management and Physical Education from Springfield College in Massachusetts in 2000.

He is currently the Senior Tennis Director of Norwalk Grassroots Tennis and Education (NGTE). A 4 start NJTL chapter program affiliated with the USTA. It provides tennis benefits for inner city children, with the emphasis of developing the whole child. David took his 14 and under team to USTA National Junior Team Tennis championships in South Caroline in 2014. He is a PTR certified teaching Professional and has been teaching adults and children at Kings Highway Tennis club since 2000. David is married and has 3 children who love tennis.

Lucian Costin
Lead Junior Champions Coach

Lucian comes to us from Busteni, Romania. He has extensive playing experience and coaching experience throughout Europe. He was in the top 10 National rankings in his country in the juniors and has played futures and challengers in Romania, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Germany. Lucian has also coached extensively and as taught juniors as well as adults. He has most recently coached Ana Bogdan - 2nd in the world in juniors and currently 116 WTA. He has been a sparring partner with Victor Hanescu, Simona Halep and Marco Chiudinelli amount others.

Olivia Cavaliere
Lead Junior Tennis Coach

Olivia is a full-time teaching professional, offering instructions for players of all ages and abilities. Olivia’s tennis career began at Shippan Racquet Club at 6 years old. Through her childhood, Olivia played in local and national tournaments while attending Westhill High School before moving to the Chris Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, FL. Olivia played in International Tennis Federation Tournaments throughout the world, and then moved on to play Division I tennis at the University of South Alabama, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Political Science. She enjoys giving back to the game that she loves!

Giacomo Garini

Tennis Professional

Giacomo, originally from Italy, is a former student-athlete at North Greenville University where he was the Men’s tennis team captain for two years. Giacomo played national tournaments in Italy and Spain, attended the prestigious Bruguera Tennis Academy, was coached by Lluis and Sergi Bruguera (two times Roland-Garros champion) and trained alongside several professional tennis players. Most recently in 2021, he has coached full-time at Oak Hills Tennis Club. Playing and teaching tennis has been his greatest passion since he learned the sport. He loves being around people and sharing his knowledge to help players of all levels understand how to improve their game and achieve their goals. 

Lance Cohen

Tennis Professional

Lance is a former professional tennis player who achieved ATP rankings in both singles and doubles. His competitive highlights include defeating top 200 ATP players and former top 100 ATP doubles players, winning a wild card tournament to compete in the ATP 250 event in Delray Beach, and being nominated for the South African Davis Cup team. Lance served as a hitting partner for current and former top ATP professionals such as Milos Raonic, Wesley Moodie, Kevin Curran, among others. He has also had the pleasure of working with many amazing coaches, including the likes of Tony Huber (coach of former world #1 WTA doubles player and top 10 WTA singles players) and Sven Goth (coaching consultant to top 20 ATP players). Lance has also coached current and former ATP and WTA players. As a junior, he finished in the top 5 in South Africa, won two gold medals at the Pan-American games and one bronze medal at the Maccabi games. Lance loves the game of tennis and sharing his knowledge. He is also a type 1 diabetic and enjoys keeping a healthy and active lifestyle.

Matias Le-Fort

Tennis Professional

Originally from Santiago, Chile, Matias speaks three languages — English (Advanced), Spanish (Native), and Portuguese (Intermediate). As an adolescent, he competed in International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior tournaments and futures. Matias received his B.B.A. in Management from Oklahoma Baptist University (Shawnee, OK) in 2020 and M.B.A. from the University of Mobile (Mobile, AL) in 2022. He played Varsity Tennis at O.B.U. and U.M, the former where he was captain of the men’s team senior year and the latter where he served as Graduate Assistant Coach of both the men’s and women’s teams. In 2017 and 2018, Matias won the National Collegiate Athletic Association Great American Conference (NCAA GAC) regular season and conference tournament, as well as the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Championship. He was awarded NCAA First All-Great American Conference Player. In 2021, Matias had a record of 12-1 in singles and was awarded NAIA SSAC First Team All-Conference. During winter and summer breaks of 2016 and 2018, Matias was a Tennis Instructor at Club Stadio Italiano in Santiago, Chile, where he taught children of all ages. He also was the Assistant to the Director at Milwaukee Country Club in Milwaukee, WI, overseeing the tennis program for adults and kids. Playing and coaching tennis for the past several years has helped Matias handle and overcome high pressure situations, which is something he loves to work on with his clients.

Kim Moosbacher

Tennis Professional

A native of Cologne, Germany, Kim is trilingual in English, Spanish, and German. Kim received her B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies (with an emphasis on Health and Human Performance/Sports Management) from Oklahoma Baptist University (Shawnee, OK) in 2020 and M.S. in Sport Management/Business Administration from Barry University (Miami Shores, FL) in 2022. Kim played Varsity Tennis at O.B.U. and B.U. As an undergrad, she had an outstanding 81-14 record in singles (a school record in career wins!) and was awarded the International Tennis Association (ITA) Player of the Year award and the Great American Conference (GAC) Athlete of the Year. As a graduate student, Kim was National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) DII National Champion in 2021 and 2022. She also earned “All-American” status in 2022 for finishing in the top 10 of the ITA Division II doubles rankings. For the summer of 2015, Kim was a Tennis Instructor at Club Weiden in Cologne, Germany, where she worked with children of all ages. During the summers of 2018-2020, she was a Tennis Instructor at Tennisclub Union Mariazell in Mariazell, Austria, teaching adults and kids. From January-May 2022, Kim was a Fitness Supervisor at Barry University, where she supervised the gym and instructed guests on how to best use the equipment to optimize their workout. Kim enjoys working with her clients on mental and physical toughness.

Andres Graterol

Tennis Professional

Born in Caracas, Venezuela and raised in Santiago, Chile, Andres speaks three languages — English (Advanced), Spanish (Native), and Portuguese (Intermediate). As an adolescent, he competed in International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior tournaments around South America. Andres received his A.S. from Jacksonville College (Jacksonville, TX) in 2018, B.B.A. in Management from Oklahoma Baptist University (Shawnee, OK) in 2020 and M.B.A. from the University of Mobile (Mobile, AL) in 2022. He played Varsity Tennis at J.C., O.B.U., and U.M, the latter where he also served as Graduate Assistant Coach of both men’s and women’s teams.

Andres was named National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Player of the Week and received the ITA National Player to Watch Award in 2017, Tennis Team MVP in 2018, Student-Athlete Newcomer of the Year in 2019, and Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete in 2021. In 2021, Andres had a record of 12-2 in singles and was awarded NAIA SSAC Second Team All-Conference.

During the summers of 2018 and 2019, Andres was a Tennis Coach at Camp Chipinaw in Swan Lake, NY, where he instructed children of all ages. During the summer of 2021, he was the Assistant to the Director at Milwaukee Country Club in Milwaukee, WI. In addition to providing sales and customer service support, he supervised the tennis program, coaching both adults and kids. Andres is an enthusiastic leader who likes to help his clients identify and overcome inefficiencies.

Ethne Dowling

Tennis Professional

A native of Wales, United Kingdom, Ethne began playing tennis at 5 years old. She had a successful junior career representing the Welsh national team and secured a Welsh national doubles titles. She continued her career at Oklahoma Baptist University where she played doubles with fellow pro Kim Moosbacher before transferring to nationally ranked Midwestern State University. She captioned the team Senior year and earned her bachelors degree in Exercise Physiology. Ethne led the team to the national tournament for 3 consecutive years and also earned the Lone Star conference sportsmanship award. Ethne interned with the Strength and Connditioning program at Midwestern State University, which furthered her knowledge of mental and physical toughness and how to use these skills to further one’s game. During her summers, Ethne worked as a tennis pro at Camp Mataponi, sharing her love for the sport and developing the younger generations game. She strives to share that same love at Kings Highway and help people reach their goals.

Mauro Tete

Tennis Professional

Mauro, originally from Argentina, is a former student-athlete at Northwest Missouri State University, where he was the Men’s tennis team captain for three years. Mauro attended Club Independiente Tandil (where Del Potro, Monaco, Gonzalez, Zabaleta, and Junqueira trained) for three years. Then he went to train to Barcelona where he trained alongside Federico Delbonis and played interclubs and tournaments in France. Most recently, Mauro worked at Fairfield Indoor Tennis and CCF, where he was the Director of the Junior program and Tennis Head professional respectively. Playing and teaching tennis has been his greatest passion since he learned the sport from a young age. 

Jose Castro

Tennis Professional

Jose is a passionate and energetic coach from Venezuela who is 27 years old and joyfully Married. Jose has had the fortune to compete and represent Venezuela internationally at the Junior levels. Jose reached the top spot on the 18’s and under rank in Venezuela. Jose attended Cowley College(Kansas) a top 5 JUCO program. Jose reached the JUCO national finals and was selected for the second All American team.

Jose completed his Bachelor degree of Business Management at Olivet Nazarene University( Illinois) NAIA School where he played # 1 singles and doubles. He also achieved victories over the # 1 ranked player in the nation NAIA.

Jose was selected First team all American, and first team of the conference while playing for Olivet Nazarene University. 

Jose brings 10 years of experience in coaching and strengthening at all Tennis Levels. He is a Tennis USPTA Professional Certified and Pickeball Certified professional. 

Jose knows the importance of education, and it is currently pursuing a higher degree of education, and a Platform tennis certification. 

Jose’s vision for Kings Highway is one where members can come to the club and feel a part of everything that we do. A place where all types of players, competitive, social, adults, juniors, can have a unique experience in their second home.

Ghali Mensour

Tennis Professional

Ghali, a native of Casablanca, Morocco, began his tennis journey at the age of 9. He enjoyed a stellar junior career, achieving a ranking as high as #20 in the country. Ghali continued his tennis career at Saint Leo University, a consistently top-ranked team in NCAA Division II. Over six years with the Lions, he earned both a Bachelor’s in Economics and a Master’s in Data Analytics. As team captain for three years, Ghali achieved notable success, including a peak individual national ranking of #7, two Sunshine State regular-season championships, three All-Conference singles honors, and an NCAA Semi-Finalist title. He also earned the prestigious Indoor National Championship, a highlight of his career. During the summers, Ghali worked as a tennis professional at The Belle Haven Club in Greenwich, where he shared his extensive knowledge, enthusiasm, and passion for the game with his players.