Introduction to Jess from Dave
About Jess
You may read more about Jess and her career on her website, but these are the primary characteristics that uniquely qualify her to be an authority on American college tennis for Scandinavian players: she enjoyed a winning career as a youth in the United States (#1 in the US in every age group played), was ranked top 10 ITF, was an Eddie Herr singles winner & Orange Bowl champion (singles & doubles), was the #1 American recruit heading to play college tennis, was #1 in college tennis (singles & doubles), is a 7 time All-American, NCAA doubles champion, All- American champion (singles & doubles) and a University of Florida Hall of Fame inductee, which is the highest honor a University can award an athlete. In college, Jess won a number of awards, including: the Gladys Heldman Award, given annually to the nation’s top college senior for athletic, academic, sportsmanship and community service; the Ben Hill Griffin Award, presented each year to one male and one female UF athlete for athletic and academic achievement; and the Dorothy Anderson Award for academic excellence and high standards both on and off the court. Jess has also competed in the WTA professional tour, reaching #166 in singles, #105 in doubles, and the round of 16 US Open doubles (WTA). She has maintained contact with former coaches and teammates from her entire life–who are now college coaches–having grown up in the elite tennis ecosystem in America since age 11. This allows her to have a broad network of schools to choose from in order to find the best fit for her Scandinavian clients.
History of Jess in Sweden
Jess is a dual Swedish/American citizen (with a Swedish mother) and grew up visiting Sweden (and her entire family from her mother’s side) nearly every year from her home of Guatemala. She played many summers at Sandvikens Tennisklubb with her morfar. She wouldn’t come to live in Sweden until many years later, though, in 2012, after retiring from the professional tour. Upon starting coaching at Salk in 2012, Jess was tasked with being the primary coach for some of the top junior boys in Sweden aged 13-18, and the Salk ATP players, including Milos Sekulic, Jonathan Mridha and Lucas Renard. She also served as the head coach of the Elite series for Salk, with players such as Elias and Mikael Ymer. Jess moved away from Sweden in the fall of 2017, leaving when all her Salk junior players left for college with her help through LTI. Though currently living in the U.S., Jess is still very involved in Scandinavian tennis, having become an official partner of Euro Elite as well as obtaining official partnerships with a number of Swedish tennis clubs. She travels back and forth to visit family and maintain these professional partnerships when she can.
History of Lehnhoff Tennis International
Jess began Lehnhoff Tennis International (LTI) in 2014 rather informally, helping one of her Salk players with his college recruitment process at no charge. After finding him a great school and team he was happy with, more Salk players began asking Jess for similar assistance. It was then that Jess realized that many players from Salk, and Sweden in general, had the desire to play tennis at an elite level while earning a college degree in America, but had little guidance on the process. She formed LTI as a Swedish company and began taking paying clients for her services. With each passing year, Jess helped more and more Salk and Swedish players and is now sending an average of 30-35 players per year from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.