Dear parents & students, as this year ends I wanted to write to you personally to:

Express my gratitude,
Reflect on what we’ve achieved together this year,
Talk about a few changes for next season.

Disclaimer: No Chatgpt involved.

GRATITUDE 

41 weeks. 246 days. 1 968 classes. 6 days a week.

This is the number of classes I taught this season. 

“I want to thank myself for believing in me, doing all this hard work, having no days off, for never quitting, for being a giver and giving more than I receive, for trying to do more right than wrong, and being me at all times.”

That’s Mirra Andreeva’s speech after she won the Dubai Open in 2025 at just 17 years old.

At first I thought it was a joke.

But after the year we’ve all experienced, I believe you should all take a moment and also congratulate yourselves.

I want to express my sincere gratitude towards you, parents of The Villa Tennis community (and elsewhere).

For entrusting me to coach your children and yourselves for the last 5 years.

You should definitely give yourselves a big self-five for the challenges that you faced this year.

I have known some of you since day 1. Being part of the progresses that your families made fill me with joy and a sense of purpose.

STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENTS AND AWARDS

The students mentioned below are the highest achievers of the academy.

They showed up 41 weeks in a row & at least x2 weekly. 

No complain. No excuses. 

And that is why they deserve to be mentioned.

Not only am I happy with their improvements as tennis players, but most importantly I am proud of the characters they are developing as human beings. 

Emilie
Muhammed & Yusuf
Farouk
Arturo
Annabelle
Zayed & Yusuf
Charbel
Guillaume
Marcel
Ismail
Ruqqayah
Ahmad
Noor & Rania
Maxime
Gabriel

I also want to give a very special award to

Yousef and Haris
(and the parents who bring them to the tournaments)

for respectively reaching number 9 and number 1 ranking in the UAE U14 Boys category this year. 

Competing in official tournaments is the reason why players train.

I believe it’s an experience that all players should have at least one time (if not engaging in regular tournaments).

If you are interested in registering for an official tournament next season, you can follow this link: https://uaetennis.ae/

To compete in those tournaments truly develops players.

It gives them even more will to push themselves.

Keeping them motivated and dedicated to making solid improvements.

MAKE UP CLASSES

An apology to the few make-up classes I was not able to provide.

I honestly did my best and I understand some of you were disappointed I was unable to deliver them.

I want to be clear about next season: there will be no make-up classes.

Organizing make-ups not only adds extra hours and time on my schedule, it also disrupts other groups by adding more students to it.

Also, it’s funny to note that the students mentioned above are the ones who requested the least amount of make-up classes… Parents, please do take notes.

Feel free to send me a message whenever you cannot attend, I will happily keep on doing my best to invite some of you who missed classes. 

NEXT SEASON 

I will probably be teaching less as I am currently working on a new exciting project.

Those of you who know me well know that I passed a certification in Posturology last year and that I opened (and closed, that was fast), a business precisely because tennis was taking too much of my time…

But let’s be honest, I love teaching too much! That’s my passion.

During my bachelor degree I tried all sectors (marketing, finance, etc.) through internships and even worked for L’Oreal for 6 months in Paris. Just to quit everything and make my dreams come true of opening a tennis academy in Hanoi, Vietnam. That I am still managing as of this date.

After helping Mouratoglou Academy develop their very first international satellite here in Dubai, I wanted to get back to my roots and simply teach on 01 court.

I am very ambitious and like to learn and develop my skills in many areas of life. Hence I need more time to do so.

If you read this, it means that I will of course have a spot for you next year.

And if not, because you require more flexibility or simply that I am out of slots, I will happily help you register with other coaches and make sure that everything goes well. 

In the meantime I wish you an excellent summer break, a great world cup and I will see you back in August.

Coach Clement