Abrie Du Plooy looks over some of the players in practice at Inspiration academy in Bradenton, where he is academy director. Islander Photo: Mark Scoop Malinowski
By Mark Scoop Malinowski
Special to The Islander
A small tennis academy is thriving in west Bradenton.
Inspiration Academy, 7900 40th Ave. W., Bradenton, attracts teen players to train and maximize their talent.
One of the top talents training at the academy is Teodor Davidov, 15, of Bulgaria, who has been at Inspiration for three years. He recently made the semifinals in an International Tennis Federation tournament, which earned him ATP World Tour points. He’s ranked 2,053 in the world in doubles.
Davidov also won a money tournament at the academy in December 2025, beating a recently retired ATP veteran, Peter Polansky, who was once ranked 110 in the world and competed in the four Grand Slam tournaments. Davidov beat Polansky in two sets to win $2,000.
Other standouts now and recently at the academy are from Chicago, South Africa, China, New Zealand and Australia. There also are local and college players, who visit for a week or a month.
Currently, 15 juniors train at the academy, which is operated by Abrie Du Plooy, who previously ran a tennis academy in New Orleans. A world-class player, Du Plooy was ranked 765 in the world in 1988 on the ATP World Tour.
“We try to be, not a big academy, but a boutique, focusing on each player,” Du Plooy said from the courts, as eight kids trained on a late Wednesday afternoon.
Du Plooy has an eagle eye for details, while observing two courts of kids playing points against each other, if one kid makes a mistake, he sees the technical mistake and makes the instant concise verbal correction. When a nice shot is executed, he offers praise and affirmation. It’s a fascinating sight to see kids so small have already achieved excellent techniques on all the vital shots needed to be a competitive tournament player.
“We have 10 courts, three to five kids per court, 32 kids max, 25 is optimal,” he added. “A lot of good players came through here — Sofia Rojas, now at University of Georgia, Brooklyn Olson was top five in the country, and Kaylan Bigun, who won the 2024 French Open juniors singles title and was the ITF No.1 ranked junior.”
Lia Karatancheva of Bulgaria, who is ranked 292 in the WTA World Tour, also trains regularly at the academy between her professional tournaments.
Former 2019 US Open Champion Bianca Andreescu recently competed and trained at Inspiration Academy for a week.
Abrie Du Plooy · Bradenton · Inspiration Academy · ITF · WTA
No comments yet.
<< Tennis World News Round-Up