Expert Instructors
Our Pro Team
Diversey Tennis Center connects you with professional instructors dedicated to the technical precision and tactical depth of clay court play. Our team brings decades of high-performance coaching experience to the landmark Har-tru clay of Chicago, helping players of all levels elevate their athletic mastery.
Take a look at our current roster of pros and see which is the best fit for you.
James Rohrbacher
General Manager & Teaching Pro, Diversey Tennis Center/Lincoln Park Tennis Association
James, an RSPA (formerly the USPTA) teaching professional, has been part of LPTA/DTC since 1998. A former high school and college player, he's also a Chicago District Tennis Association champion. Alongside tennis, James has a background in the culinary industry and focuses on creating whole-plant food cuisine. He's passionate about music, fitness, art, and running, and serves on the USPTA LGBTQIA+ task force. James has a passion for the LPTA/Diversey Tennis Center community. In his role as General Manager he will lead the teams and ensure operations run smoothly on the private and public side.
Rate: $80/hour
Contact: 773-477-9217 (phone/text)
Joey Salerno
Pro, Lincoln Park Tennis Association
Joey has been coaching tennis for 30 years and is an experienced competitive player, as well. He grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. In junior competitive play, he maintained a top 3 ranking throughout a junior career in his section and was also highly ranked nationally. During National junior play, Joey beat French Open Champions Michael Chang and Jim Courier. He played tennis at Tyler Junior College and was on the national championship team and an all American. He transferred to University of Nebraska and was All Big Eight his junior year before transferring to University of Alabama for his senior year. Joey played 4 singles and 1 doubles to complete his college playing career at Alabama. Following college, he became the Assistant Coach for University of Alabama and helped lead the team to its only NCAA quarterfinal appearance in school history. Joey has been in Chicago for 20 years working with high performance juniors and adults at various playing levels and has worked locally at Midtown, Lakeshore and McFetridge. Joey enjoys working with all levels of play.
His philosophy is simple: Learn good fundamental technique, strategy, tactics and be mentally ready to deal with all types of adversity while competing. Joey is excited about teaching at Diversey and getting a chance to work with a variety of players.
Rate: $120/hour
Contact: 312-771.9403 (phone/text)
Robert Owens
Director & Head Coach, Move Your Feet Sports
Robert has been coaching for over twenty years. He’s run tennis programs in schools, clubs, & academies in Ireland, Australia, the UK & the US. He developed The Move Your Feet Sports high energy tennis program utilizing this international coaching experience.
Robert is a technical instructor. He welcomes the opportunity to develop or fine tune your strokes, and will give you an understanding of the game so you can practice and play very well.
Rate: Move Your Feet Sports
Contact: admin@MoveYourFeetSports.com
Laura Kenton
Staff Pro
Laura is an accomplished tennis professional with decades of experience as a player and instructor. She is a Canisius University graduate and a former Division I tennis player. Laura’s philosophy is to develop a plan, execute the plan, see the results. She enjoys instructing players of all ages and levels and has a sweet spot for juniors. She instructs for USTA and has a certificate to instruct Cardio Tennis, a high-energy group fitness program using tennis for aerobic workouts. Laura is also a coach of both girls and boys at Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory High School.
Rate: $/hour
Contact: laurajkenton@gmail.com