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Francisco Ruiz (tennis player) (born on Feb. 27, 1962) is a top nationally-ranked professional tennis player in Mexico. He has opened a tennis academy in Silicon Valley, California and developed many top players. He is a beloved, well-respected coach and leader in the community.

 Early Life

Francisco Ruiz was born on 27 February 1962 in Mexico City, Mexico. His father had passed away before he was born. His mother worked very hard to raise the eight children. Francisco developed interest in tennis when he was about 4 years old when he was watching the Davis Cup between the United States and Mexico. His brother-in-law, Louis Ramirez, who was a competitive tennis player in Mexico, inspired him at his early stage. In his childhood, Francisco spent many hours hitting the ball against the wall in the house and played with adults on small side streets in his neighborhood.

Eventually, he got a membership at one of the tennis clubs in Mexico City. Francisco spent all his free time training hard. He became of the best junior players in Mexico when he turned 11 years old. In the meantime, he earned a scholarship for coaching and training. Although continuously struggled to cover the expenses, he took every opportunity to attend national tournaments and won many championships.

 Professional Tennis Career As a junior, Francisco encountered opportunities to play against world ranked players such as Patrick McEnroe. He also warmed up Bjorn Borg when Bjorn was getting ready for an exhibition match. At the age of 17, Francisco had become a top national ranked player in Mexico. During that time, he trained with Mexico's Davis Cup team. He played in the ITF Copa Casablanca tournament in Mexico City. He won the championship in Casa Blanca San Angel tournament in 1982. He also played against the number one player in the world, Emilio Sanchez, to whom he lost in the third set, despite having a lead in the first set 5:1.  Coaching Career

In 1985, Francisco eventually settled in the United States of America. In the San Francisco Bay area, Francisco started a very successful tennis program in Cupertino Parks and Recreation. After the program, he coached at Homestead High School in Cupertino and led the adult education program for Fremont Union High School District in Cupertino. He has a strong passion for developing players and deeply cares about players. Under his leadership, the Homestead High School Tennis team was ranked top including 1989 De Anza Athletic League champions, DAL, Mercedes Benz, C.C.S. champion, CCS champions from 1990 to 1992.

His dedication to player development, customized training program, and hard-working personality helped him become a well-respected high-performance tennis coach at Silicon Valley. His club, Silicon Valley Tennis Academy, has developed nationally and world-recognized players. As a certified ITF International Federation High-Performance Coach, Francisco has also been the traveling coach for many ATP and WTA professionals, where he picked up the subtle nuance that he takes to the courts, furthering his already accomplished training technique.

  Community Involvement

Francisco was actively involved in the minority community programs for the USTA. He served as the Director of the Mexico City Multicultural Exchange program. He coached the international ZONALs and works as a representative for minority tennis players in Northern California. In 2004, Francisco was awarded MPC Leadership and won the award of Diversity Leadership award multiple times (e.g. 2004, 2006, 2010, 2019, 2020) for his outstanding coaching and leadership. In the year of 2006, he became the first Latino member on the board of directors for the USTA. In 2010, he was presented with the prestigious Trailblazer award for his lifelong service in the minority tennis community.

  Reference [1] https://www.atptour.com/en/rankings/singles [2] https://www.usta.com/en/home/about-usta/who-we-are/northerncalifornia/diversity-and-inclusion.html