Coaching Team
Alexander MacKellar and Keeley Phillips (both former collegiate players with over 17 years of combined coaching) founded the Mack Phillips Tennis Academy in 2019. We offer a tennis experience catering to all age and skill levels. We look forward to sharing our passion and knowledge of the sport with you!
Keeley Phillips
Head Coach
Coach Keeley has been playing tennis seriously for over 10 years and coaching for over 8 years. She attended Cedar Ridge High School where she was awarded team MVP and played #1 mixed doubles. After High School she continued her playing career as a member of the women’s tennis team at Concordia University Texas. She graduated in 2020 with a major in Business Administration and a minor in Kinesiology. Coach Keeley’s favorite things about tennis are its ability to bring communities and families together, and the fact that it is a lifelong sport! Her coaching approach is very tailored to the player and their goals; however, she is a firm believer in creating strong fundamentals to prevent injury and allow players to reach their full potential. She has experience working with kids ages 2 all the way to seniors and all skill levels. When she is not on the court, she enjoys running, baking, DIY projects and spending time with her family.
Alexander Mackellar
Head Coach
Coach Alex began playing tennis at age 11 and has been coaching tennis for over 10 years. He attended Belton High School and was a member of their varsity tennis team. After High School, he joined the United States Navy. He spent 2 years in Washington D.C. at the Nation’s capital as a Ceremonial Guardsman. Then, he spent his last 2 years stationed in Bahrain. After the service, he attended the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor where he was a member of the tennis team and graduated in 2019. After graduating, he knew he wanted to follow his passion, tennis, and has been coaching full time ever since. Coach Alex’s coaching style is always adapted to the individual to best suit their needs and goals.
Stephanie Rodriguez
Coach
After taking time to raise a family after playing college tennis, Coach Stephanie was eager to pick up a racquet again to play the game she loves, and she hasn’t looked back! In just a few short years she has become a fixture in the Central Texas tennis scene as a 4.5 league and tournament player competing at the Sectional and National levels. She is also a Round Rock Tennis Association board member and a USTA Tournament and League Committee member. She has leveraged her tennis skills and knowledge to teach an after-school tennis program through Round Rock ISD for elementary age students, and loves conducting private lessons to teach the next generation of tennis players to know and love the game. Coach Stephanie has taught elementary school for 33 years, has been married to her husband for 30 years, and has three grown boys.
.jpeg)
Lisa Robertson
Coach
Lisa was introduced to tennis at the age of 6 by her father. She competed all across the great state of Texas to achieve the USTA level of Super Champ at age 14. She also attended Aledo High School where she claimed regional titles in doubles and singles all four years before going on to play at University of North Texas.
Through competing and coaching, her philosophy has always been “The winner is the player who has the most fun”. Tennis is a lifetime sport. Lisa believes having fun is the key ingredient for fostering a lifelong love of the game while developing skills, strength and growth both on and off the court.
.jpeg)
Connor Teseny
Coach
Coach Connor has been playing tennis for 13 years, starting at Lamar Middle School, and moving to McCallum High School where he was varsity all 4 years, and team captain his senior year. He is currently a 4.5 rated competitive player who loves competing on clay. He has privately coached a wide variety of players, from young to old and beginner to advanced, along with groups of juniors through the CTTA. He likes to utilize a simplified and technical approach to teaching the sport, while most importantly keeping things fun. Off court, Coach Connor is an avid birder, wildlife photographer and artist. You can find him hiking, fishing and spending quality time with his friends.
Nick Guitron
Coach
Coach Nick has been coaching tennis for the past 10. Starting off just giving lessons to his beginner high school tennis teammates Nick made his way to director at the world renowned John Newcombe Tennis Ranch. There he was able to help direct junior programs and was one of the head directors for the adult program. Working there for 5 years he learned how to properly teach the sport, no matter the style or student. One of his most memorable accomplishments was being able to coach alongside retired professional players such as John Newcombe, Luke Jenson, Murphy Jenson, Mark Woodforde and Johan Kriek. But more on the fun side, he’s coached Hollywood star Nick Chunland, RedBull Athlete Desmond Smith (not affiliated with NFL), and was able to be hitting partner with WTA professional Raveena Kingsley. With all these experiences he is a perfect choice if you are looking to improve your game and enjoy the sport. He is a firm believer that respect must be present on court and everything in his coaching has a reason. He always likes to remind everyone that tennis can’t be learned in a day, let alone an hour so 100% effort is needed at all times on court to be able to create improvements in your game. If you are ready to work hard and give him all your effort he will not let you down.
"Just showing up is not enough to get better at something. Hard work, goals and dedication creates champions"
-Nick Guitron
_edited.jpg)
Preston Hall
Coach
Hello! My name is Preston. Im originally from Fort Worth, Tx but have been in Austin for the past 3.5 years now. I’ve been playing tennis for over 15 years now. I originally picked up tennis my freshman year of high school where I played on the Junior Varsity team and then went on to play 3 years of varsity tennis after that. From high school I went on to Texas State for college where I played Tennis on the Texas State Travel Club Tennis Team.
I started my coaching journey in high school and post high school where I would help out with kids tennis camps during the summer. I then moved on to helping out with drills at Texas State as well as coaching individuals 1-on-1 at times. As a coach, I like to tailer my coaching style to each individual. I like to focus on making sure my athletes have a solid foundation of the fundamental movements as well as making sure they get plenty of repetition in to facilitate their muscle memory. I like to balance my encouragement and motivation with a mix of decision making for the athlete.
When I’m not at the tennis courts, I’m either at the fire station where I serve as my full-time job, at the pickleball courts, or I am at home spending quality time with my wife and dogs. I have recently in the past couple years started pursuing a competitive career in pickleball and enjoy teaching people the sport of pickleball as well.
Ali Abuwala
Coach
My name is Ali and I am currently a 2nd year architecture student at UT Austin! I’ve been playing tennis since I was 12, starting competitive tournaments around the age of 14. I was a USTA super champ and began my coaching career while high school giving private lessons. For the past two years, I have spent my summers running camps and drills with my former coach and continued with private lessons for players of all age and skill levels. I now play competitive doubles for the UT club team, currently ranked line 3 for the school. My style of coaching relates to each individual player, working with their unique strokes to make them the best player they can be. I value having a balance among all your shots rather than mastering one, and I think it helps create all around players that can face any situation. I hope to continue coaching throughout my college career and beyond as my love for this game has only gotten stronger as the years go on! My favorite player is the undisputed greatest tennis athlete of all time Novak Djokovic!
Jonathan Darnell
Coach
Jonathan Darnell started playing competitive tennis in the 7th grade but has been playing for over 30 years. He was introduced to the sport at a very young age since his mother was a tennis coach. He played doubles throughout High School and was a 4-year MVP for the varsity team. He has multiple years of coaching experience with middle school- high school players for multiple different school districts. He has also hosted and led yearly summer camps for players ranging from 1st grade through high schoolers. He has been coaching tennis in some capacity for over 18 years.
Colette Bellville
Coach
Coach Colette has been playing tennis for over 40 years. Growing up her and her brother used to play often. She would play against the high school boys while she chose to do softball and drill team in her high school days. She then started playing USTA competitive leagues in the early 1990s and has never looked back and has now been playing competitive tennis for over 29 years. Since moving to the Round Rock area 16 years ago, she has made the “Top 8 in the State” numerous times and has enjoyed playing the Texas tournament scene. Colette’s day job is a Senior Executive Assistant supporting several top executives. She has always been an avid volunteer when her kids were in school and still volunteers today as President of the Round Rock Tennis Association and has been on that board for five years. In her spare time, she enjoys playing tennis, of course, and spending time with her husband of 33 years and her family, especially her 4 and 6 year old grandchildren.
Josh Roselius
Coach
Hello my name is Joshua Roselius and I have coached tennis for the past four years. I am 22 years old and grew up in College Station, Texas. I started playing tennis at the age of 12 and have been playing/coaching ever since. I was trained by multiple coaches including my father, high school tennis coach, and several college coaches. After I finished up my college tennis journey at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, I continued my tennis journey as a coach at The John Newcombe Tennis Ranch (for the past 3-4 years). I have taught adult programs, experienced juniors, and first time juniors. Since January 2021 I have been a full time tennis pro/director on the ranch primarily with the summer/winter junior camps and the year round adult programs.
I am excited to continue my tennis journey and interested in the opportunity to meet people with the same love for the sport
KC Simonson
Coach
Coach KC has been playing tennis for over 30 years. Growing up in Ohio he started playing tennis in the 7th grade. In high school he played 4 years on the varsity team earning team MVP each season, along with playing #1 singles his last 3 years. His senior year he won the U18 Boys Plain Dealer Singles Tournament. He then went on to play singles and doubles at Baldwin Wallace College in Northern Ohio. Continuing his passion for the game coaching Girls High School Varsity & Junior Varsity tennis along with giving private lessons and coaching at local summer camps. After Ohio, he moved to Northern California where tennis is played year-round in the sunshine. He continued coaching and giving private lessons in California. He moved to Round Rock a little over a year ago with his wife, 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. His philosophy on the courts is to have fun, always try your best, and give 100% in training and competition. His favorite athletes are Lionel Messi and Roger Federer.