Boys' Tennis

For nearly a century, Blair has maintained a rich tradition in boys’ tennis, fielding competitive teams and producing scores of fine players, many of whom have gone on to have successful careers at the collegiate level.

From the unbeaten 1930 team that scored shutout victories over the Princeton freshmen and Lawrenceville, to Frank Hammond, who starred at Yale and who went on to become a legendary tennis chair umpire whose fiery presence made the great matches between Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe all the more memorable, to the unbeaten 2010 and 2011 teams that captured back-to-back Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) and state championships, Blair tennis is alive and well!

Blair Graduates Who Have Played College Tennis

• Rashad Shelton '09 - West Point
• Cole Agin '10 - Dickinson College
• Noah Joachim '11 - Johns Hopkins
• Musyoka Mbithi '11 - Trinity College
• Dragos Ignat '12 - Columbia University
• Chris Sabaitis '12 - Columbia University
• Sam Loring '14 - Dickinson College

Meet Coach Pagotto

Ryan Pagotto '97 was captain of the Blair Academy tennis team while a student and went on to play three years of collegiate tennis and serve as a co-captain of the Dickinson College tennis team.

He served as head girls' tennis coach and assistant boys' tennis coach at Blair for four years and returned to coaching in 2014 as the head boys' coach. Ryan remains an avid player and annually looks forward to the spring months when he can escape his office each afternoon to be on the courts with the team.

View directions to athletic events. To read recaps about past events, go to the "Team News" tab above.

View more photos from the 2018 season or past years on Blair's Flickr.

The Blair boys’ varsity tennis team annually heads to Florida for one week during spring break to prepare for its upcoming season.

Most recently, the Bucs have trained at the world-renowned Saddlebrook Resort just outside of Tampa. The Harry Hopman program at Saddlebrook has prepared pros such as Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Martina Hingis and James Blake for professional careers in tennis and serves as the primary training site for current stars such as John Isner and the Bryan brothers.

During preseason training, the team does its best to play a few matches while in Florida. In the past, prep powers Ransom Everglades and Gulliver Prep in Miami have helped to get players "match ready" for an equally challenging spring schedule up north.

Established at Blair Academy in 1997 and moved in 2006 to The McDonogh School in Baltimore, Maryland, the New England/Mid-Atlantic Tennis Tournament (NEMA) is one of the premier boys’ tennis tournaments in the East.

Each year, 16 teams from as far away as Ohio, Massachusetts and Virginia converge to compete during this two-day tournament. The NEMA is a great way for our athletes to compete against some outstanding players from other parts of the country.

The Blair Tennis Center includes 10 Deco Turf II courts, five of which are lighted, and the Sloane Tennis House, which boasts locker rooms and a second-floor balcony overlooking the courts.

This beautiful facility ranks as one of the finest tennis facilities in the Northeast.

Blair Academy is a proud member of the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL), a conference committed to providing the very best of athletic competition and adhering to the highest standards of sportsmanship.

Along with Peddie, Hun and Lawrenceville from New Jersey, in addition to Pennsylvania schools Mercersburg and Hill, the MAPL is regarded as one of the most competitive athletic conferences in the country, and tennis is no exception.

For nearly a century, Blair has maintained a rich tradition in boys’ tennis, fielding competitive teams and producing scores of fine players, many of whom have gone on to have successful careers at the collegiate level.

From the unbeaten 1930 team that scored shutout victories over the Princeton freshmen and Lawrenceville, to Frank Hammond, who starred at Yale and who went on to become a legendary tennis chair umpire whose fiery presence made the great matches between Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe all the more memorable, to the unbeaten 2010 and 2011 teams that captured back-to-back Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) and state championships, Blair tennis is alive and well!

Meet Coach Gerdsen

Since joining Blair's faculty in 2004, Rod Gerdsen has served in a wide variety of roles, including science teacher, academic dean for the junior class and new international students, director of annual giving, and, most recently, admission associate. He works closely with students as head academic monitor for the freshman class, teacher of Blair biology and marine science courses, and coach of the JV boys' squash and tennis teams. In his admission office work, Rod has the opportunity to welcome prospective families to campus and interview them as part of the application process. Although he now lives off campus with his wife, Cassi, and their children Kate '20 and Jack, Rod spent 11 years as the housemaster of East Hall, a dorm of 60 sophomore and junior boys. Earlier in his Blair career, he also taught honors biology and coached boys' JV soccer.

Rod completed his undergraduate work at Colby College in 1993 and earned a master's degree in marine science from the University of Rhode Island in 2000. He then spent four years as a teacher and director of residential life at the Pennington School in New Jersey, one year teaching biology at Florida Air Academy in Melbourne, Florida, and two years at Aiken Prep School in South Carolina, where he served as director of residential life and athletic director.

View directions to athletic events.

View more photos from the 2018 season or past years on Blair's Flickr.

The Blair Tennis Center includes 10 Deco Turf II courts, five of which are lighted, and the Sloane Tennis House, which boasts locker rooms and a second-floor balcony overlooking the courts.

This beautiful facility ranks as one of the finest tennis facilities in the Northeast.