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Aurelie Udall hadn't played a tennis match in five years. When she stomped past her opponent in straight sets to win the women's singles title at last month's Connecticut Public Parks Championships in Stamford, it may have surprised others, but not Aurelie.
"The girls that I played were very good,'' said Aurelie, a Norwalk resident who works at Intensity Fitness and Tennis. "I had a plan, and once I got going, I was on a mission. It worked."
Aurelie, 31, considers herself a coach more than a player these days. She has a 15-month-old son, Andreas, and her husband, Joe, teaches at Trailblazers Academy in Stamford. Aurelie concentrates on coaching at Intensity, where she coaches men's and women's teams in United States Tennis Association events. She also directs junior programs for the club's high-performance players. "The mission is to become the best player development club in New England,'' Aurelie says.
Besides, she's already had her career. She grew up in France and was ranked among the top juniors in the world behind her frequent hitting partner, Amelie Mauresmo. After retiring from playing, she started coaching with the Nick Bolletieri Academy in Florida. Her focus was footwork and strategy, and she worked with Maria Sharapova, Mary Pierce and Tommy Haas, among others.
Her husband encourages her to play more frequently. "I'm too old,'' Aurelie says. Besides, she enjoys coaching too much to get back to steady competition. "I like to give,'' Aurelie says. "I've done it as a player. I want to give what I learned to someone else. If I can impact a woman every day and make them a better play, I'm happy. I love my job."
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