Meet the 2025 recipient of our Cap Leighton – Teaching Professional Award

Basit Syed is serving his passion! As the 2025 recipient of the USTA Midwest Cap Leighton – Teaching Professional Award, Syed goes above and beyond coaching tennis athletes. Get to know him as we recognize October as Coach Appreciation Month.

Basit Syed works within the USTA Chicago District, having grown up in northern Illinois. "I started playing tennis in high school. It was a family thing," said Syed, whose cousins and best friend all loved the sport. "I played a couple of times, just at a park with my dad and my brother... Tennis was perfect for me because I could play as an individual but also be part of a team." 
 
Back then, he was chosen to be captain. Today, he's an enthusiastic coach who blends sports with engineering—which he earned a degree for. Always problem-solving, Syed coaches both juniors and adults, treating each player uniquely. "It's like, maybe this one needs coordination drills; maybe this one needs more footwork; this one needs more hitting," explained Syed. "I just think that aspect of figuring out each person—what they need to get to their potential—that is what really got me. Every day is a new challenge."

After long days directing tennis at HealthTrack Sports Wellness, Syed channels his logistical side into entrepreneurship. Prior businesses: an electronics store and even a bubble tea cafe. Now, he is determined to fill gaps in the tennis market. Syed opened the local tennis store, Baseline Racquet Sports, 2.5 miles away from the club, to help players purchase and maintain high-quality equipment. 

"The store isn't just a business. It's like an extension of teaching. I want to cover every base. Like we need to work on mental game, work on tactics, physicality and technique. It has to be everything... So I feel like the store is just another block in the grand scheme of things."