Northshore Magazine

Other than the family-friendly atmosphere, Uttam's strat- egy to lure more spectators into Crustacean Nation has been to bring some of the top names in tennis to the Lobsters. This year, Uttam and the Lobsters worked tirelessly to bring in the top male player in America in John Isner, who had previously played three seasons with the team before having to take a small hiatus from Mylan ?TT due to scheduling conÆicts The Lobsters will also have the pleasure of hosting former world no. 1 Tracy Austin on July 10 as their legendary guest as part of the Mylan WTT throwback Thursday event. "We have really grown the fan base. We have people coming back every year to watch the matches and see the excitement. P R O M O T I O N Not having something like this would create a big void. We have 10000-plus people come through our gates every summer," said Uttam. "So when we bring in names like Isner and Austin into our venue it is pretty impressive. After 10 years, what puts me in a high is bringing people like Isner into your back yard." Even though the Mylan WTT season itself is only three weeks long it takes 11 months of full-time preparation to put the best possible product on the court come July. However, Ut- tam does take the month of August off to attend the =; 7pen Uttam plays tennis himself a few times a week and prior to owning the Lobsters, was named the Tennis Nut of New Eng- land by the United States Tennis Association. Now, Uttam is turning to fellow New England tennis fa- natic Robert Greene to take over as head coach of the team after Bud ;chultb stepped down after five seasons in order to pursue his dream of traveling the Appalachian Trail. Greene is the former Chairman of the USTA Olympic Tennis Committee and took Team USA to Beijing in 2008 and to the Pan Am games in Brazil in 2007. Over his 37-year career, Greene has coached several highly ranked players and held a career high No. 3 national ranking in USPTA Men's Doubles. He was instrumental in producing three Fed Cup events in New England and, was honored as the USPTA National Pro of the Year in 2009. Greene, who was born in Rhode Island and grew up on Boston's North Shore, received the prestigious Inter- national Tennis Hall of Fame Educational Merit Award in 2003. "Of all the candidates we looked at we chose Bob Greene because he has a long established New England connection," explained Uttam. "From the coaching point of view his cre- dentials are impeccable." Greene's tennis coaching experience will certainly come in handy however he'll have to make a few minor tweaks to his approach in order to adjust to coaching in the Mylan WTT. "Coaching tennis at a high level is largely individual. Now (in Mylan WTT) what you're faced with is really trying to work with everyone," said Greene. "You have to coordinate the practice schedules and know the routines of all the play- ers. We have a very demanding travel schedule too so we have to make sure everyone gets enough rest." Greene will also have the luxury of coaching one of the best line ups the Lobsters have had in recent memory. Joining Isner will be Lobsters fan favorite Eric Butorac, South Afri- ca's Rik De Voest, Canadian Sharon Fichman and American doubles specialist Megan Moulton-Levy. 12784_BostonLobsters.indd 139 4/30/14 4:53 PM

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