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UGA tennis champion Angela Simon finds
success on pro pickleball circuit
Angela Simon with Don Granott
with the trophy after their win
at the Hilton Head Open.
By Alex Ewalt
Angela Simon's first encounter with
pickleball in May 2020 came about
through a bit of happenstance. Simon,
the 1994 NCAA women's singles
champion who also won a team title
that year at the University of Georgia,
was looking for ways to kill time while
waiting for her daughter's softball
practice to finish at Shaw Park in
Marietta.
"My oldest had a softball practice
that was, like, four hours long, and we
happened to be at Shaw Park," Simon
said. "I remember walking around with
my youngest and saying to her, 'Why
are all these people out here and what
are they doing?"'
So, Simon decided to walk over
to the tennis courts, where a crowd
of people was playing and practicing
pickleball, the racket sport that
exploded in popularity once the
Covid-19 pandemic hit. She jumped
in with a small practice group, who
asked her if she had ever played before.
She said no. But someone handed her
a paddle to use for the day, and before
she knew it, she was partnered up with
one of the top male players at the park
and started winning matches the same
day she picked up the sport.
"It's the most fun I've had in so
long," said Simon, a Brookhaven
resident whose home court is now
Hammond Park. "People have been
so nice, it's been such a great change
and I've met so many great people. I've
started teaching it. It's so refreshing
because there are so many different
levels."
And Simon quickly leveled up.
She started playing seriously, and then
professionally. After turning 50 and
becoming eligible for professional
mixed doubles competition for the
2022 year, she began traveling outside
of the state for the first time for
tournaments while continuing to make
a name for herself in the sport and
winning tournaments along the way.
"I didn't start at the top and
I'm still not at the top, but I go to
Hammond and I mix with everyone
and have fun," she said.
Simon, then Lettiere, led the Lady
Bulldogs to the program's first-ever
women's tennis title as a senior — on
the team's home court in Athens, as
UGA was hosting the tournament for
the first time. Simon played tennis for
four years professionally after college,
eventually competing in all four Grand
Slam events and climbing to No. 25 in
the world in doubles and inside the top
150 in singles.
Those tennis credentials rank
up there with just about anyone in
professional pickleball circles. And
while her lifetime of experience in
tennis translates well to the pickleball
game, the smaller court and differences
in the racket and balls make for notable
differences.
"I think the hardest part is that I
never had very good touch in tennis,
and pickle is all about touch," Simon
said. "There's a power element, but to
be better, you really do have to have
touch. Sometimes it can be so fast, but
sometimes you have to play really
soft.
“But I think the most fun is
just to be able to hit people
as hard as you can and you
know you're not going
to hurt them,” Simon
joked. “It's a great
frustration
release."
Later in 2020, Simon connected
with one of the top male tennis-turned-
pickleball senior players in Atlanta, Dan
Granot, who also played tennis at UGA
and then the University of Arkansas
in the 80s. Granot, now 57, recruited
Simon to join him as his partner on
the pro senior mixed doubles tour the
moment she was eligible.
“He invited me to play with a group
one day and he said, ‘When you turn
50, you're going to be my partner.
Remember that. In a year and a half,
you will be my partner playing with
5 55
me.
Granot, who lives in Buckhead and
is owner of Joel and Granot Real Estate,
held to his word. They started winning
in the pro ranks in 2022, hoisting
trophies at high-profile pickleball
tourneys such as the South Carolina
Open, the Hilton Head Open and
the Boca Raton Masters, finishing no
lower than fourth in any they entered.
Simon has also won and placed highly
in women’s doubles with other top
senior players, including a win at South
Carolina with top player Anna Shirley
for a double gold at the event.
“I have an 11-year-old and 16-year-
old at home and most senior-level
players are empty-nesters, but I
compete when I can,” Simon said.
She runs a tennis instruction
company, Up4Tennis, but has started
teaching pickleball and intends to
continue in the sport for the long haul.
“I would love to slowly
transition from tennis to
pickleball in some way
in my next job,” Simon
said. “Not necessarily
v just teaching, but just
(P being a part of it, I'm
not sure how. I just
^ think it's a really unique
sport and it's such a family
sport. We can go out with
our 11-year-old and still have
fun, whereas with tennis we
can't really do that. The ball is
different and the court is so large.
But it's such a family sport.
“You can see 15-year-olds playing
with 60-year-olds. Where else do you
see that? I think it's so unique.”
4 | MARCH 2023
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