It was an awesome experience!

As time passed, at the age of 25, I received the offer to coach at the Van Der Meer Academy on Hilton Head Island, SC, in the good ole USA!

This was an incredible opportunity so I Immediately Jumped on the plane and after a 19 hrs flight, found myself walking the gigantic airport of Atlanta with only my tennis clothes, and two heavy' Head tennis bags ready to start a new chapter with my tennis career.

Upon landing, I started my coaching career as PTR Professional at the VDM Academy in SC, and spent 3 years as Teaching Pro at the Sea Pines Racquet Club, which is a short 10-min drive and where they hosted the Family Circle Cup in years past.

After 5 years of teaching at these world-class facilities, I jumped on the opportunity to work with two 12 yrs old twin boys in Savannah, Georgia, as their full-time private coach. It was a major switch from coaching "resort tennis" but one of the best decisions I've ever made.  

I was very blessed to work with the twins, James and Madison Daly (shown in picture below), and numerous other top juniors in Savannah which set the path to eventually become a US Citizen and making the USA my home.  

I worked with the boys for 5 long years, and they eventually received a D1 Scholarship to play for Wofford College.    

But... It wasn't all only about coaching. 

At the time, away from the courts, my company, IHS Enterprises, LLC was launched in the mid-2000's and 'Tourna' was the first brand we obtained the exclusive rights to distribute in South Africa and a few other international countries.  We are also the official distributor for Tourna for all US College and school teams.

As you may be aware, TOURNA is known for the world-famous Tourna Grip and hundreds of tennis accessories and top of the line stringing machines so if you are looking for either, shoot me an email: ivor@ytexstrings.com 

From there up to now, It has been a long journey and I have loved every second of it.

And I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Ivor, but, how and at what point of your career did you start your journey with YTEX?"

So continuing my story, there I was, following my journey as a Pro Tennis Coach until one day in 2012, I was headed to Orlando, FL, for one of the PTR Tennis Conferences and as a tech junky, the Trade Show was a given to attend.

I was also supposed to meet with a Mr. Andres Yidi who at that time was the owner of YTEX, to get some string samples for one of my friends back in Savannah.  As I walked up to the YTEX booth, I was greeted with the biggest and sincerest smiles I have ever seen and yes, it was Andres :)

He lived in Key Biscayne, FL and at the time, he had brought his beautiful family along with him to help run the booth. (see picture below)

So, 2012 is the year YTEX was launched and I jumped on board with Andres to be his sales agent for Georgia.

A couple of years later, I became the VP for YTEX. During this time we grew the company together. It wasn't an easy task as there were already big names in the market, but we managed to get through and succeed.

And Since July 2018, I'm the new (Proudest and Happiest) YTEX owner.

This attitude is what keeps our company growing and with the help of our YTEX'ers (fans, customers but more importantly, Family)...we'll become the leading string brand on the market soon!

People may compare strings here and there, but no other string can compete with the quality YTEX delivers, and it's not all talk.

Our flagship string, the Quadro Twist, was rated #1 for spin by the USRSA (United States Racquet Stringers Association) and #2 overall out of 200 strings they play tested. The only string to perform higher was natural gut. 

And I'm sharing this with you so you are aware of the quality of the product you will use on your racquet is top-notch.

By the way...

We have a Facebook group with Hundreds of YTEX family members where we discuss current and new ideas to bring for all of you.

If you're not part of it already, click here to join now.

And let me tell you, I enjoyed writing all of this and sharing my tennis / YTEX journey with you.

YTEX is very special for me and I will do everything that Is in my power to make sure you have the best experience and results when buying and using our products.

Thanks again for reading our story.

Remember you are now part of it, and we'll grow together, bigger and stronger! 

My sincerest thanks,