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COMMUNITY
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.
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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
6 | MARCH 2023
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
raftAtlanta.com
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 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 just
teaching, but
just 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.”