Young Tennis Star Brings Global Experience and Unique Style to Coaching

“If you want a coach that motivates you, and brings you to another level, take Charles.”  This is just one of the many comments from former students to describe their coach who’s just 24 years old.  

A former college tennis standout from Florida National University, Charles de la Laurencie has taken his experience and translated it to the field of coaching.

Laurencie grew up in Paris, France, and first picked up a racket at just six years old. “My parents really pushed me into competition. They were driving me to tournaments,” said Laurencie. 

“From eleven years old to 18, I was playing tournaments almost every three days. I just really loved the competition and the sport.”  

Laurencie looked stateside to continue his education, using his skills to land him 10 different offers. Just three days before the deadline, Ventura City College in California came calling.  He had fallen in love with the school on a trip to California in 2016, telling his mother then that he wanted to play there.  Two years later, that dream was coming to fruition.  “I worked with an agent. She told me that I had an offer from a school in California and I had three days to apply. I was like, ‘Sure, why not?’”

After two years in California, Charles transferred to FNU and played for one more year before finishing his studies at the University of Miami.  He had never planned to be a coach during school, however, it was here that he started giving lessons and dipping his toe into coaching.  Very quickly, he had found that helping others achieve their goals on the court was his calling.  

“I had been coaching since I was 16. I had the opportunity to do it during college so I took it,” said Laurencie. “I love coaching here in Florida. I still play of course, but mainly I now focus on coaching tennis, and I really enjoy it.”

Now living in Miami, Laurencie is receiving more and more publicity for giving tennis lessons to people of all ages and skill levels and getting requests from his athletes to be their full-time coach noting his outstanding court techniques and strategy.  He prides himself on his ability to adapt his teaching style and approach to each client. He particularly excels at keeping his clients engaged.

Parents rave about his ability to hold their young children’s attention while other sports and coaches struggle. “I have some parents that said that I was doing an incredible job with this group of three and four-year-old kids. Normally these kids don’t pay attention for more than 10-15 minutes at soccer. But with me, they listen the whole lesson”

Laurencie’s model of coaching comes from his role model, French tennis coaching legend Patrick Mouratoglou.  Mouratoglou was Serena William’s coach for over 10 years. His academy in Paris produced stars such as Holger Rune, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Florida’s own Coco Gauff.   

“I really like the way he teaches the importance of mindset in tennis,” said Laurencie.  “I try to do the same with all of my clients.  Tennis is like chess, you need to be a couple moves ahead.  That comes with the right mindset.”

Charles also brings his experience of playing both overseas and at the NCAA level to his coaching.  

“Playing in France is definitely different. In America, we teach a lot more about the mindset and being in the proper headspace,” said Laurencie. 

“It’s also more like drills, drills, drills. When I was in college, the model was drills, drills, drills. In France, training is focused on the individual needs of the player.  When I give my tennis lessons, I use a mix of what we did in university and what I did when I was in France.”  

This combination of styles and experiences is what sets him apart from other coaches. This, along with his ability to engage his clients allows them to improve in an incredible amount of time.  

Charles brings this approach to not just lessons, but to his courtside coaching.  He works with collegiate athletes as well as tournament participants in South Florida.  

He currently works with a female tennis athlete from the University of New Orleans. “I went to Dallas for ITF tournaments with my player. We’ve been to New Orleans and Los Angeles together for competitions as well, but I’d like to travel internationally.”

Laurencie hopes to expand his involvement in coaching at tournaments. “I mean, obviously, I want to coach higher performance and go on to environments like Patrick Mouratoglou. I want to fly around the world with my players to tournaments, and I know I will with my determination.”

For now, however, Charles is continuing to share his unique philosophy with all of his clients, working with them to achieve their goals and improve their game.  

For those looking for a tailored coaching and training program that incorporates styles from both American and European tennis, Charles de la Laurencie is the man for the job.  If you’re interested in learning more about his unique style of coaching, you can contact him at at charlesdll@hotmail.com or call him at 561-758-7047.

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Matt Leviss is a Senior Journalism student from the Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. He is graduating in May to venture into sports media. Photos courtesy of Charles de la Laurencie.