Rick Macci
In 2010, with over 247 National Championships to his credit since 1985, Rick was inducted into the USPTA Florida Hall of Fame. He serves as a consultant on the USTA Player Development Program in Boca Raton, Florida. Recognized as the number one junior development coach in the world in 2017, Rick was the youngest ever to be inducted into the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Hall of Fame. Only 19 coaches, in the hundred-year history have achieved induction into this prestigious fraternity. Rick has been an instructional editor for “Tennis Magazine” for 30 years. A high demand motivational speaker, clinician, and author, his award-winning book, “Macci Magic”, a self-help novel and a snapshot of players Rick has coached, is one of the most read tennis books ever. Rick is the only world-class coach at an academy (RMTA) to teach any day one-on-one. RMTA is a worldwide leader in offering the best high-performance and stroke mechanics training.
Frank C. Salzano, ESQ.
Frank is a founding partner at Salzano, Jackson and Lampert LLP and managing partner / general counsel at The Alliance Management Group. He represents clients in connection with transactional and civil litigation matters, and is a certified NFL contract advisor. Before going into private practice, Frank was in 2007 one of the founding partners of Dewey & LeBoeuf, LLP’s Entertainment, Media, and Sports Practice Group. He has successfully negotiated contracts and handled civil litigation matters on behalf of iconic talent, and has counseled start-up production and media companies. Prior to 2007, Frank was an associate with The McMillan Firm, a boutique entertainment law firm handling transactional and litigation matters ranging from contractual issues to copyright and trademark for various entertainment clients. He was formerly a litigation associate at the international law firm of Jones Day, where he represented several Fortune 500 corporate clients in commercial transactions, intellectual property and securities matters. Over the past decade, Frank has developed a strong network of accomplished individuals in the entertainment, media, and sports industries. He has close relationships with numerous talent managers, agents, artists and wealth managers as well as attorneys that practice in the sports and entertainment fields. He works closely with his wide range of colleagues on matters ranging from client representation to sourcing new business deals. Frank was admitted to practice in New York State as well as in the federal court for the Southern District of New York. He received his Juris Doctorate from Boston University School of Law and his undergraduate degree from The College of New Jersey.
Gabriella Ferraz
Gabi was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1995. She was raised in Geneva, Switzerland, and speaks fluent Portuguese, French and English. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Finance from Bentley University in the US and completed a Master’s degree in International Finance at Cass Business School in London. After competing in ITF tournaments, she worked in Venture Capital and then as a financial analyst at a Brazilian tech startup. Gabi is currently based in Brazil but travels to Europe often and will be in Florida on a regular basis.
Thierry Légeret
Thierry Légeret is a successful entrepreneur and a globally recognized public relations expert. Throughout his career, he has served on numerous boards across various industries and has acted as Senior Advisor to a number of international groups and family offices. His extensive involvement with the Sports & Entertainment industry has involved not only a keen interest in tennis. Thierry was also active in Formula 1, where he developed privileged relationships with a number of drivers, and in golf, where he was closely involved with the Evian Masters & European Masters. Moreover, he has signed on several movie stars as ambassadors for the brands he has promoted over the years. Thierry graduated from École Hôtelière de Lausanne prior to earning a degree at Cornell University.Association.
Daniel-Sacha Fradkoff
In 2002, Daniel-Sacha became a founding partner and has been since a board member of Active-Advisors SA, a Swiss-based asset management company, member of GSCGI and OAR-G. He has also since 2003 been a director and partner of Alternative Consulting Corporation Ltd, a Bahamas entity, overseeing assets in excess of USD 500 million. Daniel-Sacha previously worked in London for Talisman Asset Management and the Musketeer Hedge Fund, as well as in Paris in derivatives strategies for AIG Trading, and in Geneva for a company specialized in alternative investments. He received his Federal Swiss Maturity (Economics) in 1995, then pursued his studies in Political Sciences at ISTH Paris before successfully completing the Ibbotson Associates’ Asset Allocation Concepts in 2002, as well as the Stratfor FAU Geopolitical Analysis Certification. Daniel-Sacha has played tennis in the Swiss National League for the last 20 years. In 2019, the team he captained and in which he played in both singles and doubles won the Swiss Champion title in the Young Senior (+35) category. They were able to retain this title every year since 2019 till now 2023. He is among the handful of people in Switzerland to have earned a double certification as a top-level Sports Manager and Tennis Coach by the Swiss Manager Association.
Clément Ducasse
Clément is also a board member of Lake Geneva Investments Partners, a FINMA-regulated asset manager focusing on niche investment strategies that currently oversees assets under management in excess of USD 500 million. Moreover, he is a founding partner and board member of many companies all around the world. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities, Clément developed his expertise by working at HSBC Corporate & Investment Banking as a derivatives and structured products specialist dedicated to family offices and independent asset managers in Europe. He earned a bachelor’s in Business Administration from ESSEC Business School in Paris. Clément used to play competitive tennis as a young teenager with some of the best French players of his age category.
Asanka Pathiraja
Asanka began his legal career at an AMLAW 50 Big Firm in New York City where he gained a deep understanding of many of the legal matters facing Wall Street, the Venture Capital Industry as well as the Entertainment & Media Industry. Prior to that, he was a principal at a leading Duke University Endowment backed Venture Fund / Incubator in Research Triangle Park. He maintains an active portfolio of investments in cutting edge Artificial Intelligence and other emerging growth industries allowing him special insight into the intersection between commercial and business issues. Asanka has worked extensively on the philanthropic front, and has been appointed by Virgin Unite, alongside Sir Richard Branson, Sam Bronson and 2 others, to serve as a member of the Advisory Council for the “New Now”. In 2020, he was selected as 40 under 40 by his alma mater, Emory University. Asanka is a member of the Royal Ascot, Royal Enclosure and the Conduit Membership Club in Mayfair, London. Lastly, aside from being a former collegiate tennis player, Asanka is a keen participant in endurance athletic events.
Hana Mandlikova
Born in 1962, Hana achieved #1 in the Junior rankings before turning Pro. She went on to win the 1980 Australian Open at 17 years of age, followed by the 1981 French Open, 1985 US Open and 1987 Australian Open. She was also runner-up at four Grand Slam singles events, including the Wimbledon finals of 1981 and 1986, and won one Grand Slam women’s doubles title, at the 1989 US Open, when she paired up with Martina Navratilova. Hana’s many achievements lead to her induction in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Among those, she led Czechoslovakia to three consecutive Fed Cup titles in the period 1983–1985. From the US Open 1980 through to Wimbledon 1981, she made four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals (she is one of the few players to have achieved this). She also ended Chris Evert’s 72-victory streak on clay at the 1981 French Open. Hana is one of only six women who have won Grand Slam singles titles on clay, grass, and hard courts. Hana retired from the professional tennis tour in 1990 at age 28, having won 27 singles and 19 doubles titles. Since leaving the Tour, she has become a highly successful tennis coach. She trained Jana Novotná for nine years (1990–1999), during which time her protégée won Wimbledon and reached #1 & #2 in Doubles & Singles world rankings. Hana has also captained the Czech Republic’s Fed Cup team. In her three-decade career she has spent two decades in United Nations, mainly in World Health Organization at every level: national, sub-regional, regional and global, and attributes her experience and expertise to deliver results while navigating all sorts of difficulties. Lucica has devoted her career to helping and supporting people affected by TB, especially those most vulnerable, most stigmatized and living in impoverished communities. A 1992 graduate of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Lucica completed specialty training in pulmonology through a joint program with the Romanian National Institute of Lung Diseases. In 1999, she received a certificate in International Public Health from George Washington University in Washington, DC, which she completed as a fellow in epidemiology of lung diseases, TB control and program management and evaluation. Lucica is acting as part of EDGE Advisory team in her personal capacity, bringing her knowledge of the countries visited by our athletes.
Jason Zafiros
Jason attended high school at the IMG academy. He sparred players such as Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Kei Nishikori and many others. He reached a junior ranking of Top 100 in the world ITF. Upon graduation, he committed to The University of Arizona. During his freshman year, he had an outstanding record of 18 wins for just one loss, while also being nominated for Pac12 player of the week. After three years at U.A., he transferred to Florida State University, where he was Senior captain. During his college career, Jason achieved a compelling record of 104 match wins. He received his Masters in Sports Management at the University of Miami in 2014, and shortly after was named director of the high-performance program at the Rick Macci Tennis Academy. Jason is extremely committed to helping young athletes achieve success, both on and off the court. He used to travel the world with top-ranked Junior players who compete in the Australian, French, British, and US Open tournaments.
Slava Konikov
A native of Minsk, Belarus, Slava Konikov has an extensive coaching career under his belt. His protégés have included prominent ATP players such as Max Mirnyi (ranked World #1 in doubles) and Vladimir Voltchkov (first qualifier to reach the Wimbledon semifinals since John McEnroe), as well as world-class WTA players such as Tatiana Poutchek and Victoria Azarenka (a former World #1 in singles, whom he coached at different stages of her career). Slava was Head Coach for Sacramento State College for over a decade, leading the Hornets tennis team to eight NCAA appearances, six Conference tournament crowns and six Big Sky regular season championships. In recognition for his achievements, he was named Big Sky Coach of the Year on three occasions. Slava has an impressive coaching resumé, having spent time as Head Coach of the Belarus Davis Cup team from 1995 to 2002, and leading the Belarus Junior National Women’s Team to four consecutive World Championship titles from 1999 to 2002. In addition, he coached the Polish Junior Men’s and Women’s National Teams from 1993 to 1995. During his playing days, Slava ranked among the Top 10 singles players in the Soviet Union at only 18 years of age. He graduated from Moscow Sports University with the equivalent of the All-American honors in tennis. In recent years, Slava was Head Coach of the Belarus Tennis Federation, where he oversaw the technical staff and the players as well as the national teams. He chose to resign from this position to take on new responsibilities as the trainer of an EDGE player.
Ansley Cargill-Gusky
Born in 1982, Ansley started competing as a Junior tennis player. She was ranked #1 in the U14, U16, and U18 and under-USTA Junior rankings, winning the U16 National Clay Courts and Hard Courts singles and doubles, and was a finalist in the U18 National Hard Courts singles and doubles. She was ranked as high as #8 in the ITF Junior World Rankings, following wins over Elena Dementieva and Kim Clijsters. She was selected to the US National Team, and was one of the highest ranked Junior players with a Top 250 WTA ranking before signing with Duke University as the number one national recruit. In her freshman year, Ansley achieved the #1 ITA collegiate singles ranking in the spring of 2001. She also won the Riviera Collegiate Grand Slam, the ACC Women’s Team Championship, earned ITA National Rookie of the Year, the ACC Rookie and Player of the year, and was a NCAA quarterfinalist. She was also an All-American as well as finalist for the Honda Award. She posted a 45-4 singles record for freshman year at the top singles spot for the Blue Devils. After her freshman year at Duke, Ansley turned professional. She achieved a WTA ranking of #90 in Singles and #67 in Doubles, played in nine Grand Slam main draws, and made the round of 16 in doubles at the French and US Open tournaments. Ansley recorded singles wins over Top 15 WTA players, and won 4 ITF professional singles and doubles titles. She also won a bronze medal representing the US at the 2003 Pan American Games and was a World Team Tennis participant, pairing up with idol Steffi Graf in doubles. After professional tennis, Ansley returned to Duke and helped coach the team for three years while finishing her degree. She was also involved in assisting with the Junior program and training elite Juniors in North Carolina.
Julien Borduge
Born in 1988, Julien speaks perfectly French and English. He was a former French Ice Hockey player who completed his first Bachelor’s degree in 2009 at Noema Business School while playing for France’s most renowned and titled Ice Hockey Club. He also played Rugby in College as well as American football. A passionate of coaching techniques and a great believer in the importance of strength & conditioning in sport performance, Julien pursued his studies in 2012 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Sciences and Physical Activities, Sports Training Specialty at Rouen University, and a Master’s degree in Evaluation & Performance Optimization at the same institution (STAPS) two years later. With EDGE’s support, Julien has continued to expand his knowledge base by completing a wide range of certification programs that include CrossFit, as well as Strongman Certified CrossFit Trainer, the IP Institute Motor-Patterns Development International Certification, the Athletes Wellness Massage Certification at Artec Formation, as well as Precision Nutrition Certification and Proprioceptive Functional Training System. Julien is as well completing the following certifications: Neuro Sciences applied to Sport Performance, Functional Pattern, Brain Coach, Movement Optimization for Prehab and Performance, Functional Foot, Human Foundation, Postural Global Reprogramming. Julien has acquired a wealth of experience working with teenagers as an Educational Assistant and Coach (hockey and strength & conditioning). Prior to joining EDGE, he was a founding partner and Head Coach of his own fitness center in France, and also worked with ATP players and coaches. His goal is to offer first-rate care and support to help young athletes reach their full potential.
Samuel Wilson, ESQ.
Since embarking on his legal career in 2008, Samuel has handled well over USD 150 million in transactions spanning across industries and geographic borders, including but not limited to financing, merger & acquisitions for company sales, as well as raising capital for start-up ventures. Samuel also has an in-depth knowledge of the Sports & Entertainment field, talent-side intellectual property and related legal issues that athletes face from day-to-day. He received his Juris Doctorate from the George Washington University Law School in 2007 and has a Bachelor of Science in Finance & International Business from the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. Samuel has been involved with EDGE since day one.
Dr Lucica Ditiu
A native of Romania, Lucica is a lung physician, an epidemiologist and a researcher. She became a leader in the global fight against tuberculosis and other communicable diseases – and particularly in ensuring that we leave no one behind. In her three-decade career she has spent two decades in United Nations, mainly in World Health Organization at every level: national, sub-regional, regional and global, and attributes her experience and expertise to deliver results while navigating all sorts of difficulties. Lucica has devoted her career to helping and supporting people affected by TB, especially those most vulnerable, most stigmatized and living in impoverished communities. A 1992 graduate of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Lucica completed specialty training in pulmonology through a joint program with the Romanian National Institute of Lung Diseases. In 1999, she received a certificate in International Public Health from George Washington University in Washington, DC, which she completed as a fellow in epidemiology of lung diseases, TB control and program management and evaluation. Lucica is acting as part of EDGE Advisory team in her personal capacity, bringing her knowledge of the countries visited by our athletes.
Jeff Auberson
Jeff was born in Switzerland in 1977 and received his Bachelor of Sciences degree in Mathematics and Computer Analysis in 2002 from Spring Hill College in Alabama. He captained the International Club of Switzerland in 2012, of which he has been a member since 2010. Morevover, Jeff participated in several Satellite and Futures events. In 2019, he played in both singles and doubles for the team that won the Swiss Interclubs +35 Championship. Thanks to its extensive network of relations, Jeff has successfully obtained scholarships for a number of athletes at various Colleges in the US, and now is in charge of a Tennis Program in Florida.
Simelise Jacquot
A native of France, Simelise has been traveling around the world for her work. In addition to her Physiotherapy Accredition, she earned additional certification in Kinesio-Taping and Shoulder Therapy. Simelise served as personal physiotherapist to S. Ellerbrock (TF #3 Wheelchair Tennis) at the Australian Open in 2016. Until her departure for the US in 2020, she was employed as a senior physiotherapist at La Colline Eaux-Vives in Switzerland. Based in Miami, Florida, Simelise is available to help EDGE Players on site as well as on the Tour when needed. She also plans to come back to Europe on a regular basis to assist athletes who require her services.
Olivier Charroin
Born in France in 1982, Olivier masters French and English perfectly, and understands German. He was a professional tennis player on the ATP Tour from 2004 until 2015, reaching a career best of #84 in Doubles (and #532 in Singles). For 11 years, he was a member of the ATP Tour Volunteer Programs for Kids. Prior to turning Pro in 2003, and while being part of the ASU men’s tennis team, Olivier obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance (Cum Laude) at the W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University. Since retiring from the ATP Tour in 2015, Olivier has earned a Master of Science degree in Management at HEC Lausanne and a Certificate in Human Resources Management. He has worked in HR for ISO, SC Johnson and Nestlé. Olivier completed the Swiss Tennis Certification programs as a C Coach, as well as Youth & Sport (both Level I & II). He still competes at the highest level in the Swiss Tennis Interclubs A National League (in 2018, his team was Swiss Vice Champion 35+ and then won the title in 2019). His best wins on tour were recorded against such eminent players as Mahut, A. Zverev, Raonic, Medvedev, Kachanov, Kuznetsov, Sela, Bautista Agut, Herbert, Krajinovic, Krajicek Jr, Carreno Busta, Dustin Brown, Albert Ramos, Paire, Clement, Chardy, Mannarino and Troicki.
Laurent Rochette
Born in 1988 in Bordeaux, Laurent speaks perfect French, Spanish and English, as well as Catalan. He has been a professional tennis player on the ATP Tour since 2006, with a best ATP Singles ranking of #202 achieved in 2012 (at the time, he was also ranked #252 in Doubles). To date, he has won a total of 12 titles. Laurent has played four times at Roland-Garros, twice at Wimbledon and the US Open, and once at the Australian Open and the Paris Masters. His best wins on tour were scored against players such as Del Potro, Bautista Agut, Ramos Vinolas, Jaziri, Herbert and Sousa. During his career, Laurent also played Dimitrov, Raonic, Thiem, Schwartzman, Medvedev, Simon, Monfils, Carreno Busta, Johnson, Sandgren, Paire, among others. This is how Laurent sees his added value to EDGE: “The fact that I’m currently still a professional player gives me the great advantage of being familiar with the latest techniques in modern tennis and the ways of applying them. In all modesty, the added value I’m able to offer EDGE is hard to find elsewhere. My goal is to help young players develop the best movement abilities on court, to assist them in discovering the secrets of the famous French technique, and to lead them to become future top players competing in the second week of Grand Slams”. Laurent, who has returned to high-level competition on the ATP Tour, has been a proud consultant of EDGE since early 2018. He contributes to the assessment of players (e.g. at “Les Petits As”) and regularly provides one-on-one assistance to its players (as a sparring partner and expert adviser during the French Open, or for weeks of training blocks in one of EDGE’s several locations).
Nael Haba
Born in 1988, Nael speaks Russian, English, Turkish, Uzbek and Ukrainian. He started his Professional Coach / Sparring Partner career back in 2008 when he moved to the United States. He was included as an official Hitting partner at both the US Open and the Masters 1000 Miami Open for more than 10 years. During that time, Nael trained on many occasions with a number of ATP players that included Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Cilic and Connors, as well as WTA players such as V. Williams, Hingis, Halep, Kerber, Bencic, Garcia and Navratilova. Nael has coached several players while they were Top 10 junior ITF: Amina Anshba, Sofia Sewing and Djurabek Karimov, as well as Elena Rybakina, travelling with each of them on a regular basis. Nael has also been working and traveling with Bojana Jovanovski from Serbia (WTA #65) in 2014-2015 and during the summer of 2018, and previously with Akgul Amanmuradova from Uzbekistan (WTA #50) in 2006-2008. He used to work also from time to time in Florida with Elias Ymer from Sweden. In 2013, Nael spent a couple of months in India training with Sania Mirza (and her partner Martina Hingis), a former World #1 Doubles player / team. Nael has been working since 2018 on a regular basis with Alexei Popyrin (ATP Top 60) and was every day during the 2021 US Open with Leylah Fernandez when she reached the Final. Nael played in many Challenger, Futures and ITF tournaments. In 2004, he was ranked #2 in the National UZB Junior Davis Cup Team (415 ITF) and won the UN Cup. In 2010, he was awarded a full scholarship and went to ASA College in New York where he graduated with a degree in Sports Management. He was ranked #2 in the Men’s USTA Eastern Division, played #1 Singles, and #2 Doubles and was in 2012 an American National NJCAA championship Finalist (Singles and Doubles Division).