Omni La Costa Resort & Spa (Carlsbad)
2100 Costa Del Mar Road
Carlsbad, California 92009

MEET OUR PROS

La Costa's top-notch tennis pros

Bryce Cunningham

Director of Tennis

A native of Australia and a USPTA Elite Professional, Bryce Cunningham brings prestigious international experience as a player, coach, and in tennis management to The Club at La Costa and Cliff Drysdale Tennis. Bryce joined Cliff Drysdale Tennis Management in 2008 and since has worked at several world renowned tennis resorts across the county including the Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne in Florida. In 2013, Bryce was named USPTA Pro of the Year for the Florida panhandle and in 2016, the Omni La Costa Tennis Center was named USPTA Club of The Year for the San Diego Division under his management.

Norman Nguyen

Program Director

Norman comes to Cliff Drysdale Tennis after most recently serving as the Assistant Program Coordinator at New Rochelle Racquet Club in New York and Tennis Director at the Christmas Cove Improvement Association in South Bristol, ME. Hailing from Boston, MA, Norm brings experience in working with a wide range of students, spanning from 10-and-under to adults, as well as high-performance players. After earning a master’s degree in sports management, Norm knew coaching was his passion, and he built his coaching philosophy around developing strong habits and building confidence for his students. His career began with coaching high school teams, running local summer tennis programming, and serving as the Assistant Coach for the Men's and Women's Tennis teams at Williams College and he’s thrilled to now be in California as a member of the Cliff Drysdale Tennis Team.

Tennis Professional Sean Stewart

Sean Stewart

Tennis Professional

Sean has been a member of the USPTA since 1984 and has a Pro-1 rating. He attended UC Berkeley and was a member of one of the nation’s top-ranked collegiate men’s tennis teams. Sean has a passion for tennis and enjoys teaching, whether it is fundamentals, tactics or strategy you want to work on; Sean is knowledgeable in all facets of the game.

tennis pro Brian

Brian Blumenfield

Tennis Professional
USPTA certified and USRSA stringing

Brian has been teaching at the resort since 2005. Brian attended the University of Rhode Island and played two years of division 1 tennis singles and doubles - making all rookie his freshman year. He works with adults and children and is available for lessons and clinics.

Júlia Aliseda Antón

Tennis Professional 

Júlia Aliseda Antón comes from Tarragona Spain, but she recently graduated from Northwest Missouri State University with a major in Applied Health: Exercise Science. Julia has been part of the college tennis team at Northwest for the last 4 years where she has been the captain of the women’s team for the last two. Julia had a great college career: in her freshman year, she earned the #57 National Ranking, finished top 8 singles in her region in Fall 2018, Júlia and her team won the regional tournament and qualified for the National tournament in Altamonte Springs, FL where they finished #8 nationally. Moreover, Julia has been recognized as MIAA player of the week in 2021 and received multiple academic honors.

Júlia started playing tennis at 4 years old and competed in her hometown for more than 10 years, including in national tournaments and ITF. In Spain, Julia has been ranked among the best players in her region achieving multiple titles and finals in Catalonia. Teaching experience-wise, Júlia has worked in different tennis clubs in Spain; in the United States, she worked at the 2021 Northwest Missouri tennis camps. Júlia is excited to share her tennis experience and to help players of all levels and ages to improve their tennis skills and abilities at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.

Tennis Pro  - Valentin

Valentin Bertin

Tennis Professional 

Valentin Bertin was born and raised in Pontoise, France a small suburb near Paris. His love of Tennis started at age 11 with his younger brother and
at this young age he joined the TENNIS CLUB DU VEXIN-THELLE in France where he played in Tennis Tournaments for 10 years and later worked as an instructor and coached tennis for 7 years. The Club was instrumental in building Valentin’s unique style of teaching adults and children. Every year Valentin would travel to Nantes, a city near western France with 10 kids for a 2 week high intensity coaching camp.

Valentin moved to America in early 2022 and joined Cliff Drysdale Management at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa as a full time tennis professional.
Valentin enjoys the California weather and strives to be a Tennis Director one day. He speaks 2 languages and has always been passionate about sports, particularity football and tennis. Valentine is available for lessons and clinics daily.

Tennis Professional

Gee Gee Garvin

Pickleball Professional  

Gee Gee is a natural gifted athlete who started playing tennis at age 6, and never stopped playing. She was a top 10 ranked junior tennis player in Southern California in all age categories, nationally ranked player, and achieved the honor of Player of the Year. With all her success on the tennis court, led her to earning innumerable number of scholarships to Division I universities all over the United States.
 
Gee Gee has over 25 years coaching experience as a professional tennis coach, college coach, high school coach, and a private coach. After college, Gee Gee competed in a few WTA pro events, USTA National Level I tournaments winning many national titles. She represented the USA Suzanne Lenglen Team as a member, and as a Captain internationally. Gee Gee has a world title winning the ITF World Championship in doubles.

Then Gee Gee, who loves sports found another passion, the sport of pickleball. The first time Gee Gee picked up a pickleball paddle was in a local tournament after hearing about the game from a friend a week before. Gee Gee’s pickleball playing achievements including winning several pickleball titles and medaling at pro level events which include Tournament of Champions, Hawaii Open, So Cal Classic, Las Vegas Open, 2 time US Open Gold medalist, Canadian National Champion, USAP National multiple medalist. Her highest ranking has been in the top 10. She still competes, but has been spending more time teaching and promoting the game of pickleball to all ages and levels.