Two popular Vero Beach tennis pros are embarking on new endeavors: One has changed courts, the other is changing course.
After 20 years at Grand Harbor – 17 as head pro, the past three as the club’s tennis director – Christophe Delavaut has left to teach privately and finish the tennis instruction book he began writing in 2013.
Kriegler Brink, meanwhile, will be leaving his assistant pro’s job at Quail Valley later this month to pursue a business career in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where he was a standout on the Texas Christian University tennis team.
“I can’t say enough about the way I’ve been treated by the people at Quail Valley and, before that, at The Moorings, but I’m 28 years old and I’m ready to move on to the next chapter of my life,” Brink said. “I’ve got a lot of friends in the Dallas area, and I’ve already got some meetings lined up. I just need to get there and make the contacts.
“I’ve had fun here, but it’s time,” he added. “I don’t want to be a director of tennis at a club. If I did, I would have applied for the job at Grand Harbor. But I want a career in business – finance or commercial real estate, maybe insurance – and I really can’t put it off any longer.
“I’m really excited about the opportunities in front of me.”
Delavaut said he, too, was ready for a change of direction, though the Indian River Tennis Foundation board member has no plans to walk away from the court … or Vero Beach.
In fact, since resigning last month from his seasonal job at Grand Harbor – he spent summers working at exclusive clubs in Michigan, New York and Massachusetts – Delavaut has been giving private lessons locally at the Twin Oaks Tennis Club, owned by his longtime friend, Alain Mignolet.
“I’ve known Alain for 20 years and he’s allowing me to use a court there,” Delavaut said.
“I’ve got a fairly big following of local players and juniors, and I’m teaching about 35 to 40 hours a week.
“It has been very difficult for me to teach juniors in the past, because I’ve been here only six months out of the year,” he added. “So now that I’ll be here on a year-round basis, I’m looking forward to working with them.
“About 80 percent of my clientele is local, so I should be busy in the summer, too.”
Delavaut, 52, said he plans to use his off-the-court time to finish his second book – “The Common Threads of Champions” – which he hopes to have published within the next two years.
“It’s been a never-ending project, but I’m going to focus on getting it done,” he said. “I’m probably 18 months away.”
As for why he left Grand Harbor, Delavaut offered no specifics, saying only that he was ready for a change.
“I’ve got nothing but great memories of Grand Harbor,” said Delavaut, who was recruited to the Vero Beach club in 1995 by its then tennis director, Mike Rahaley. “But it was time to do something else.”
Brink’s impending departure comes at an inopportune time for local tennis fans who’ve enjoyed watching him play in the annual $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures event.
The South African native was scheduled to play in the tournament – recently renamed the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, which will be held April 26-May 1 at The Boulevard Tennis Club.
Brink was planning to play alongside his Quail Valley colleague, Michael Alford, as a wild-card entry into the main draw of the doubles competition. But he already has notified both Alford and tournament director Tom Fish that he won’t be able to play.
“Michael is still going to play,” said the tournament’s co-director, Randy Walker. “We’re still working on replacing Kriegler, but Michael will play.”
