Meet Our Team
MARK BAKER - Director of Tennis
Mark has been coaching national to professional level players for more than 25 years. Prior to starting at BTA, Mark was based in Florida coaching on the women’s professional tour around the globe including all of the grand slams. Under his coaching, Mark’s players have won more than 20 level 1 National titles, 11 ITF Titles, 8 professional titles, and many wins over current top 50 ranked professional players. In 1998, Mark founded the Baker Tennis Academy in Dayton, Ohio, as well as designed, built, and co-owned the South Regency Tennis Center. Before building the Baker Tennis Academy, Mark was the Director of Junior Tennis at the Dayton Indoor Tennis Club in Ohio for 5 years. Mark continues to develop national and international level players, many of which have recently played or are currently playing at highly ranked NCAA college teams such as Auburn, Samford TCU, Idaho State, UNC, and Case Western. Specific Coaching Experience: •Professional coach to 5 tour players ranked from 50 – 800 •Coached at all 4 of the grand slams •Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy talent scout •Coached #1 singles player in Jr. Fed Cup (Germany) •USTA Player development (National Training Center; Florida) Notable Achievements of his Players: •ITF Junior Orange Bowl – G18s Champion •US Open Juniors – G18s Finalist •USTA National Hard Courts – G18s Champion •ITF Winter International – G18s Winner •ITF International Hard Courts – G18s Winner •USTA Easter Bowl Spring National – G18s Winner •USTA Winter Nationals – G14s Winner •USTA National Clay Courts – G12s Winner •#1 ITF Junior (2005) •#1 US Junior in girls 12s, 14s, and 18s (2000 – 2004)
CURT MILLER - Director of Operations
Curt serves as our Director of Operations and oversees the administration of our clinics, memberships, and assists our members with any questions they may have. Curt grew up in Tuscaloosa and played competitive junior tennis. He continued playing junior tennis through high school, playing singles and doubles for Tuscaloosa High School. Curt attended the University of Alabama and graduated with an accounting degree, where he spent thirty-seven years in public accounting serving as a Partner at both Ernst & Young and Dixon Hughes Goodman, where he worked for twenty-five and twelve years respectively. During his professional career, Curt continued to play in various USTA leagues and club tournaments. Curt also enjoys traveling to various professional tennis tournaments and has attended the US Open, French Open and Wimbledon. The Australian Open is next on his bucket list to complete his career Grand Slam!
PAUL THOMSON - Head Coach
Paul has coached for the past twenty-three years. He was formerly the women’s coach at Brevard College, Drake University, Alabama Huntsville and UNC Greensboro. He was also the assistant coach for the men’s team at his alma mater, Samford University. While coaching college tennis, Paul was the coach of an NCAA All-American, 2 NCAA Academic All-Americans, 19 individual All-Conference players, and achieved 270 career wins throughout his college coaching career. During his years of work to coaching collegiate tennis, He served numerous years on the NCAA rules and advising committees, as well as the tournaments and awards committee. In addition, Paul was a travel coach for several Thai Davis Cup members during the ITF US men’s tournament circuit. Paul has successfully written dozens of articles for the Tennis Recruiting Network, as well as published one book “My View Standing Outside the Lines.”
KENDALL HOLLADAY - Head Coach
Kendall trained at BTA throughout her junior years and was a nationally ranked player in addition to being the number 2 ranked player in Alabama. Kendal played college tennis at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio, consistently a top ten ranked D3 tennis program in the NCAA. Kendal played first and second singles at Case Western and she reached a high ranking of #21 in the region and made the UAA all-conference team. Kendal is a USPTA Certified Coach who has been coaching for the past seven years at BTA. Kendal has developed and trained many players that train in our Academy program at BTA. Kendal currently works with our 8 & Under Futures and Tournament Pathway clinics performance players.
PAULA ALVAREZ PINO - Head Coach
Paula is originally from Spain and as a junior player achieved a national ranking of #17 for juniors and was among the top 40 of the women’s national rankings and held a WTA world ranking of 1076. Paula played Division 1 college tennis at UAB where she played all her singles matches during her career at one of the top positions and finished 17th on UAB’s all-time list for dual-match singles victories. Paula holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in civil engineering and currently serves as the Associate Director of the UAB Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center, where she contributes to the field of sustainable urban development and smart cities. Paula enjoys working with all players of all ages and has played a significant role in the development of many of the elite players that have trained at BTA.
BTA Players Gaining Experience from D1 College Coaches
DAVID VEST - Samford University Head Women's Coach
David Vest, a three-time winner of the Ohio Valley Conference’s Coach of the Year award, and the recipient of co-coach of the year honors by the Southern Conference is entering his 16th season as the head coach at Samford University. He was named to the position on August 2, 2007, and has led the Bulldogs to a conference championship and an NCAA tournament appearance. Prior to taking the reins of Samford, Vest served as the assistant head women coach at the University of Kentucky for 2 seasons. During this time, he helped coach the women’s team to a team ranking of #13 in the nation during the 2006 season. Before moving to the University of Kentucky, Vest was the head men’s and women’s coach at Morehead State for four seasons. He was named the OVC coach of the year in both 2002 and 2005 after he led the Eagles to school record totals in wins each season.
OLIVER REYNOLDS - Samford University Head Men's Coach
Oliver is the head coach for the Samford University Men’s tennis team. Previously, Oliver served as the head men’s and women’s coach at Washington College in Maryland. Oliver went to Washington College from the College of Charleston and was a member of the staff from 2015 to 2017. During the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Oliver was the assistant coach for the men’s and women’s teams and was promoted to associate head coach in 2017. Oliver began his head coaching career at Samford during the 2022-2023 season, where he’s led the team to two Southern Conference Championship final appearances with several of his players receiving academic and athletic honors since his time as head coach. In addition to coaching college tennis, Oliver was a coach at the Family Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, where he helped design programs and train juniors from ages 10 to 18 years old. Oliver played on the Samford men’s team from 2007 to 2011, when he also became the captain his senior year. In his freshman season in the spring of 2008, Reynolds was a starter in both singles and doubles play for the team that won the Ohio Valley Conference title.
MICHAEL HERMAN - Samford University Graduate Assistant Coach
Michael was born and raised in Prague, Czech Republic. He trained as a junior player at the popular Hamr and Sparta training academies in the Czech Republic. Michael played college tennis at Goucher College from 2016-2020. After college, Michael was the assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s tennis teams at Washington College and served as the interim head coach during the 2022-2023 season. Michael is currently the Graduate Assistant Coach for the Samford University men’s tennis team.