Missouri Valley / St. Louis

Gruno's leadership propels Vetta Sports Sunset to Facility of the Year awards

David Smale | December 03, 2025

Sunset Tennis was founded in 1972. The Vetta Corporation bought Sunset in 2022 and has brought enthusiasm and momentum, not to mention financial resources, to the facility located in St. Louis County.

With Vetta’s investment, the whole tennis program is growing at Vetta Sports Sunset.

“We just got a new bubble and a new air conditioning unit,” said Brent Gruno, Vetta Sunset’s facilities manager and tennis director. “Our indoor courts are between 65 degrees and 70 degrees year-round. With our new bubble, we have all new lighting. We also have new nets and new net posts. It’s almost like a whole new state-of-the-art facility. That has helped grow the entire tennis program.

“We’re not a five-star spa where you’re getting facials and stuff like that. We’re strictly tennis. You’re there for tennis only.”

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That focus on tennis helped Vetta Sunset earn the 2025 USTA St. Louis Facility of the Year Award as well as the 2025 USTA Missouri Valley Facility of the Year Award.

Being part of the Vetta system has helped tremendously. There are several Vetta facilities in the St. Louis area, though not all offer tennis. Gruno said he can call on his counterparts at the other facilities for help.

“I’m not alone,” he said. “I’m not just at Vetta Sunset. I have help from Vetta Concord, Vetta West and Frontenac Racquet Club. Our staff can all interact and talk. If I have a question and I can’t get it answered, I can go to one of my peers, and vice versa.”

Culture of Collaboration

Teamwork describes Gruno very well.

Under his leadership, the Junior Team Tennis program at Vetta Sunset has grown significantly. When he moved back to the St. Louis area six years ago, the JTT program was pretty small. Most of the time, they had just one or two teams. Now they consistently have 10 teams, with juniors from all age and skill levels.

Because of that growth, Gruno also won the 2025 USTA St. Louis Outstanding Junior Team Tennis Organizer Award. Gruno said the team tennis concept fits him perfectly.

“Sometimes tournaments will just include elite players,” he said. “Team tennis is definitely good for players who are just getting started. It’s kind of an in-between step in getting them ready for tournaments and then eventually high school tennis.

Brent Gruno has helped Vetta Sports Sunset thrive. He spoke of the facility's success while accepting an award at the 2025 USTA St. Louis awards celebration in November.

Vetta Sports Sunset has made a host of recent updates big and small, including refreshing the lobby area.

Brent Gruno has helped Vetta Sports Sunset thrive. He spoke of the facility's success while accepting an award at the 2025 USTA St. Louis awards celebration in November.
Vetta Sports Sunset has made a host of recent updates big and small, including refreshing the lobby area.

“Some of these kids started out in orange ball at 8 or 9 years old. By the time they get into yellow ball, they probably have played 50 or 60 matches. By the time they get into high school, they may have played 100 matches. So, they’re very experienced.”

Gruno also is fond of other elements of team tennis, including the fact that coaching can happen and parents can encourage their kids between points.

“In a typical tournament, the parents can’t talk and the coaches can’t talk,” he said. “You’re just sitting on the sideline. You get a lot more interaction with team tennis, which is a big selling point.

“It’s actually made me a better coach.”

Back Where it Began

Gruno came back to the area where he played tennis at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Missouri. After working for several years at Sunset he spent eight years on the East Coast, where team tennis wasn't as prevalent. He said it’s good to be back where team tennis is thriving.

“It was totally different in Boston,” he said. “It was a lot more isolated. You would only interact with a few kids each weekend. With team tennis, I can see as many as 50 of my students in one day.”

So, Gruno is happy to be back home. He said Sunset was the first indoor facility he ever played in. If Vetta Sunset keeps going strong like it has in 2025, it may be the last one, too.

Check out the full list of 2025 USTA St. Louis award recipients by clicking here and the complete list of 2025 USTA Missouri Valley award winners by clicking here.

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