HPTC: It's All In The Family

Australian Jaslyn Hewitt may get more attention than the average pro tennis player ranked somewhere outside the world's top 450. Her brother, Lleyton, was the world's top-rated men's player as recently as just over a year ago.

Thursday, the "kid sister" lost her second-round match at the Houston Pro Tennis Classic, as Hewitt fell to third-seed Cory Ann Avants in three sets. While Hewitt is reticent to talk about her brother's career, Avants imagines the notoriety as a bit of a burden.

"It has to be hard when people always want to talk about your brother when you're trying to have your own career," said Avants, a 19-year-old from Gastonia, North Carolina. "She's a very talented player, though, so it won't be long before she emerges from her brother's shadow."

Ranked 277 in the world this week, Avants herself comes from a tennis playing and coaching family. Parents Hank and Sharon Avants played tennis collegiately and both serve as coaches to their daughter.

"I'm really fortunate," Avants said. "Both my parents love tennis and it was their ambition to start a tennis club. Which they did. I have eight courts right outside in my backyard (www.racquetclubofthecarolinas.com)."

In an era when tennis parents who double as coaches are oft-maligned, what's it like to have a double dose of on-court mentoring from both Mom and Dad?

"It's great," laughed Avants. "If I'm upset at one of them, I can always go to the other. Plus, if one of them is trying to tell me something and I don't listen, they'll just have the other person tell me the same thing and usually I'll get it."

Quarterfinal play in both singles and doubles opens Friday at 11 a.m. Admission to all sessions, including Saturday's semifinals and Sunday's finals at The Downtown Club at The Met, is complimentary and open to the public.


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