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Tennis academy provides net gains MT file photo Scott Schnugg won the last two Southern Oregon Conference tennis titles, but now attends school and a tennis academy in Naples, Fla. Schnugg's game gets better, leads to a scholarship By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN Medford teenager Scott Schnugg journeyed across the country to prepare himself to play major-college tennis. Mission accomplished. Schnugg, 18, a two-time Southern Oregon Conference boys singles champion for North Medford High, recently signed a letter of intent to play for UC-Santa Barbara, starting next fall. "It's a relief to get the decision out of the way," says Schnugg, a senior at Naples (Fla.) High, where he's in his fourth month as a student of teachers Vimel Patel and Ronan Graziani at the highly acclaimed Tough Tennis Academy. Graziani and Patel are currently working with six budding junior players, including Schnugg. The cost to live and practice at the academy is high -- but it's well worth it, Schnugg says. "I hope I get to stay here for the whole school year, but I still have to talk to my parents about that again," says Schnugg. His parents, Cathy and Steve Schnugg, have indicated it largely will be left up to Scott, but that no final decision has been made. If Scott were to return early, it likely would be around the first of February. "It's expensive, but it's having a real positive effect on my tennis. I appreciate my parents helping me do this. Hopefully, it will pay off." The move has already helped Schnugg secure a college scholarship. "Now that I've reached the college level, I'm preparing myself to try to play at the next one (professional) when I'm finished," says Schnugg. "I'm not talking about the big tour as much as playing some pro satellite tournaments to see how I can do." Among the six players involved in the academy, Schnugg says he fits somewhere in the middle of the group in terms of ability. "But we're all pretty close," he says. "We push each other hard, and then we go back to our rooms and we're like best friends.'' Schnugg, 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, may play for the boy's team at Naples High next spring, in addition to training at Tough Tennis Academy. "Tennis here in Florida is a different game at the high school level," says Schnugg. "We have an awesome team. The competition in Florida is the best in the country." The boys share rooms in the Patel home. They train on five courts owned by Graziani near his Naples home. "The house is big and real nice," says Schnugg. "We have a lot of room and the food is good." The boys practice for three or four hours each day after school. "It's a life concentrated with tennis," says Schnugg. "But that's what I wanted. He returned to Oregon last fall and got something else he wanted: a championship in Boys 18 singles in the USTA Pacific Northwest Sectional in Eugene. "It felt good, and I could feel the improvement I've made the way I played," says Schnugg. Graziani says Schnugg has the potential to be a professional player. "I don't like to make predictions because it's so tough to make the pro tour," says Graziani, "But he has a very good feel for the net and he can stay back and hit. "He reminds me a lot of Todd Martin (an ATP touring professional). They both have all the shots, and both are very good doubles players. "Neither one of them moves real quick, but they do well because they can play from the backcourt or the net, and both serve well." The coaches are working on changing the pace of Schnugg's serves and teaching him to serve smarter. Schnugg says his serves are more than 100 mph. "I'm winning matches and playing my best tennis right now," says Schnugg. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.