USTA Missouri Valley celebrates Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Check out these stories from across USTA Missouri Valley celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, which takes place annually in May in the U.S.

🎾 Nicholas Dunn has helped the Pembroke Hill School boys' tennis team capture a pair of MSHSAA state championships. In this USTA Heart of America Q&A article, Dunn, who is also an Overland Park Racquet Club standout, provides his favorite memories while competing for the Raiders—including one particular match where he battled through muscle cramping—and some advice for young athletes.

🎾 Korean adoptee Kim Hammond is a vital contributor in the St. Louis tennis scene as a USTA St. Louis league captain, Impact Team Tennis (ITT) captain and tournament competitor. Hammond loves that she has made lifelong friends and memories through tennis, including a chance encounter where she met Belinda Bencic and Petra Kvitova while attending the Miami Open. Learn more about Hammond by reading this Q&A article.

🎾 Jitesh Patel has served as USTA Kansas vice chair of officiating since 1999 and has worked as an official since 1995. As a dedicated leader in the tennis officiating community, Patel advocates for growing the game through officiating and mentoring new officials. To read more about Patel, click here.

🎾 Born and raised in Navsari, India, Sagar Patel played a lot of cricket in his youth and dabbled in badminton, volleyball and racquetball. He gave tennis a try when the Covid pandemic struck and is now a regular in Springfield-based USTA Missouri men’s and mixed leagues. Read more about Patel’s journey from cricket to the courts by clicking here.

🎾 After previous coaching stints at West Virginia, Fresno State and Wake Forest, Calvin Song returned to his home state of Iowa last year when he became the women's tennis head coach of the Drake University Bulldogs in Des Moines. An Ames High School and Iowa State University alum, Song details the significance of returning to his roots and what he enjoys most about coaching in this article.

🎾 While growing up in Bangkok, Thailand, Witty Srisa-an (pronounced See-sa-an) tried tennis and now plays the sport at least once a week in his hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. A professor and director of the School of Computing at the University of Nebraska, Srisa-an cited the health benefits of the sport and how it brings him joy. Learn more about Srisa-an by checking out this article.

🎾 A lifelong tennis fan, Anand Vennavelli recently got into playing the sport and formed a team for an all-new USTA Kansas 3.0 men's league. Vennavelli and his teammates have had a blast making friends and memories while reaping the health benefits of tennis. Check out the full story by clicking here.