Kelly Jones (1964- )

     A native of Augusta, Georgia, Kelly Jones and his family moved to San Diego when he was 13.  Prior to taking up tennis, he played basketball and baseball, but it was the move to San Diego that inspired his tennis career. Kelly attended Point Loma High School, but didn’t play a national tournament until he was 16. In his words “I went from unknown to 7 in the nation.” He gives credit to Angel Lopez for guiding his junior career, which culminated with being a singles and doubles finalist at Kalamazoo, Michigan in his last year of the 18 and under division, and a number three national ranking. Kelly went on to play collegiate tennis for Pepperdine University, winning the NCAA Division 1 doubles title two years in a row with different partners, and he was a four-time All American. In 1984, he was a member of the US Olympic Team. A veteran of 45 grand slams, Jones won two ATP Tour singles titles and was ranked number one in the world in doubles in October 1992. After retiring from the tour in 1998, he began his real passion of coaching by accepting the position of USTA National Coach. He was responsible for the development of National junior champions, as well as coaching tour players Mardy Fish, Xavier Malisse, John Isner, Justin Gimelstob and Alex O’Brien.  In 2007, he and his wife Tami Whitlinger-Jones, a former WTA tour professional, created Kelly Jones Tennis, a tennis consulting/coaching business. Kelly is the Director and founder of Tennis LMS Institute,a full time tennis academy. Kelly, Tami and their daughter Makenna currently reside in Tampa, Florida.