Photos | Thanks to the Catars
Tomas and Claudia Catar of Fairhope finished fifth in a national grass court tennis tournament
It’s always nice when father and daughter can spend time together while sharing common interests.
While some families prepare meals or plant gardens, Tomas and Claudia Catar have found another pastime they can pursue together: winning a national tennis championship.
The Fairhope family recently finished in fifth place at the National Grass Court Father/Daughter Championships. The tournament took place at the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, near Boston.
COME TO AMERICA
Tomas is the tennis manager of the town of Fairhope. However, it has been a long and winding road to reach the east coast.
Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, he found great success playing in Europe and ranked #1 in the International Tennis Federation’s junior circuit. He won a European junior championship title, was a junior semifinalist at the 1995 French Open and competed for his country in the World Team Cup in 1999.
“I was on tour and got injured,” Tomas told Lagniappe. “Scott Novak [now with the Mobile Tennis Center] was the coach at the University of South Alabama and he came to Slovakia to recruit several players. He reached out to one of my friends, and Scott is the reason I’m in the States.”
Tomas would only play for one year with USA, but he ended up staying. While playing both singles and doubles, he said the Jaguars made it to the NCAA tournament.
“Then I had to make a decision whether to go back on tour or start coaching,” said Tomas. “I took the safer route.”
He would serve as an assistant coach with the U.S. women’s team. After a year, he was offered an offer to move to Interstate 65 and coach at Auburn University in Montgomery. After earning his undergraduate degree with the Warhawks, Tomas began working at numerous tennis centers across the state.
“I was in Dothan and then local to Mirror Lake, Heron Lakes and Gulf Shores,” Tomas said. “I’ve been in Fairhope for six years now and I hope to stay here for a while. I really enjoyed every minute of it.”
He is the only coach in Alabama to be awarded the title of Master of Tennis (Performance Coaching) by the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR). Tomas said this certification is equivalent to the International Tennis Federation’s highest coaching certification.
His other achievements include 2016 Alabama PTR Tennis Professional of the Year; national tester and workshop clinician for PTR national coaching certification workshops; US Tennis Association (USTA) member of the Alabama Junior Competition Committee; founder and director of the Gulf Coast Tennis Association; 2018 USTA Southern Tennis Professional of the Year; 2018 USTA Alabama Tennis Professional of the Year; and 2021 Alabama PTR Tennis Professional of the Year.
Tomas said he really found a new home.
“I’m 45 and have spent the past 25 years in Alabama,” he said. “I’ve been here more than the time I spent in Europe.”
THE NEXT GENERATION
Another benefit of coming to Alabama was that Tomas met his wife, Natalie, in Mobile. Together they produced the other part of this story, their daughter, Claudia.
“I started playing tennis when I was 3 years old,” Claudia said. “I had tried dance and gymnastics, but I wanted to stop and play my father’s game.
“I entered my first tournament at 8am. After my first game, I asked my father to teach me how to win. Since then I have been traveling and participating in tournaments.”
The 16-year-old junior from Fairhope High School competes in both singles and doubles at USTA events. She is in the Top 10 of all groups in Alabama and in the Top 100 players in the South.
Claudia won the Alabama Junior Hard Court Singles Championship. She was the runner-up at the National Teen Championships in Arizona. Claudia was selected to represent Alabama at the Ozaki Cup in Rome, Georgia earlier this month.
She was on the Fairhope High team from seventh grade through her freshman year. By the time she was a sophomore, she decided to focus more on USTA tournaments.
“I won sections every year I played for my school,” she said. “I’m not sure if I’ll play this year. I’ll see how the cards fall.”
GO TO THE NATIONALS
The Catar family knew there were national father-daughter tournaments. Then they heard about the Massachusetts lawn event.
“This was the first time I ever played on a grass field. It was really cool,” Claudia said. “My father often played them in England.”
That experience came in handy.
“The difference between hard court and grass courts is like indoor volleyball and beach volleyball,” Tomas said. “There are different movements. On grass, the ball bounces 40 percent lower and therefore much faster. There are many more irregular bounces.”
This was an advantage for Claudia.
“She is a very aggressive player,” said Tomas. “There is a lot of serving and volleyball. I knew she would do very well on this surface.”
The Longwood Cricket Club is one of the oldest facilities in America. Tomas said big names like Rod Laver and Arthur Ashe have played there, as have the Davis Cup finals.
“Every game we went to three sets,” said Tomas. “In the end we lost in the quarter-finals. We were leading 10-9 and one point away, but we lost the tiebreak 12-10. We were very close to the final.”
“They were all very good teams,” said Claudia. “We beat the team that won last year.”
It was also a special moment for Tomas. He broke his right wrist two years ago. At the time, he was unsure whether he would be able to play competitively again.
“I’ve only used my left arm for six months,” he said. “So this was already a win, without even having a place in the tournament.”
The next opportunity for the family is at the end of October. They have signed up for the USTA Family Clay Court Championships in Wellington, Florida.
While they are pleased with their recent performance, they are not satisfied.
“If you win a sanctioned national title, you get a golden ball,” he said. “That’s something to strive for.”
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