Who

Premier Racquet Clubs
Owner/Operator Karl Hale in Partnership with The City of Markham

KARL HALE
CEO, Premier Racquet Clubs

Karl Hale is the CEO and visionary behind Premier Racquet Clubs (PRC), one of Canada’s fastest-growing racquet sport organizations, with multi-sport facilities in Mississauga, Brampton, and Markham. Widely regarded as one of the most respected figures in global racquet sports, Karl brings a unique blend of executive leadership, coaching excellence, and philanthropic drive.

He is also the Founder of Premium Court, Ontario’s leading builder of tennis, pickleball, and multi-sport courts. His impact extends globally as the former Chairman of the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR), the world’s largest tennis coaching organization, and the current Chairman of the Professional Pickleball Registry (PPR), representing over 10,000 coaches worldwide. He also serves on the Board of the Padel Coaches Registry (PCR) — the global authority for padel coaching standards.

Karl’s career began as a top player for Jamaica’s Davis Cup team, where he competed from 1988–1999 and in 2004, holding the record for the longest three-set match in Davis Cup history (23–21 in the final set). He coached Canada’s Fed Cup team to a World Group play-off in 2003 and later returned to lead the Jamaican Davis Cup squad. He also spent five years coaching in Tokyo at the Kashiwa Lawn Tennis Club, helping his juniors earn over $1 million in scholarships.

Since 2006, Karl has served as Tournament Director of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Toronto — one of the largest and most prestigious tennis events in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of fans and reaching a global audience of over 100 million viewers. Under his leadership, the tournament has become a model for fan experience, player satisfaction, and commercial success.

Karl is also the Founder and Chair of the Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation, which has raised over $5 million and built 27 schools across Jamaica — including one in partnership with Serena Williams. He also launched the Daniel Nestor Celebrity Charity Event, raising over $1 million to support Canada’s Olympic athletes and healthcare.

Whether as a coach, executive, or player, Karl strives for excellence in everything he does — always putting his members, players, partners, and community first.

ANDY SUTTON
Executive Racquets Director, Premier Racquet Clubs

Andy Sutton is a nationally recognized tennis coach and leader in racquet sports development, currently serving as the Executive Racquets Director for Premier Racquet Clubs. With over three decades of coaching experience, Andy has built a reputation for delivering high-performance training programs that foster technical excellence, tactical intelligence, and personal growth in players of all levels.  He is among a handful of coaches nationally who hold both a Tennis Canada Coach 3 and OTA Club Professional 3 designation.

A respected educator and mentor, Andy was the recipient of the 2012 Course Facilitator Excellence Award, recognizing his outstanding contributions to tennis coach education in Canada. In 2025, he was honored with the Club Professional Excellence Award, celebrating his commitment to innovation, leadership, and excellence within club environments.

Known for his strategic vision and passion for athlete and coach development, Andy continues to elevate racquet programming at Premier Racquet Clubs through a holistic approach that combines on-court performance, unparalleled vision, and a culture of excellence.

NIMA NADERI
Operations Manager

Another very experienced member of the PRC team is Nima Naderi.  Nima has over 25 years in the tennis industry in various roles, and is currently the tour manager for two major events; The Caribbean Cup Tennis Series a series of 9 events throughout the Caribbean and The Canadian Pickleball Series, the largest Pickleball tour in Canada spanning 9 major cities.

As a tennis coach himself for the past 23 years, Nima has coached nationally ranked players, has won international awards for his coaching and has held major roles at various clubs in the GTA including Bayview Golf & Country Club, Newtonbrook Tennis Club and The Donalda Club.

In addition to his on court career, his love of tennis has also found expression off the court in his writing and pod casting.  Nima is the founder and creative director of Tennisconnected.com and has had his articles published with Tennis Canada, Tennis View Magazine, Tennis Pro Magazine, and the ATP tour.   You may also have seen or heard Nima as a featured tennis analyst on CTV News, CBC Radio or TalkSport radio.

JOEY TADROS
ASSISTANT TENNIS PRO

Joey has graduated from Seneca College with a diploma in recreation and leisure. His certifications include- NCCP level 2, Learn to train, advanced to train, high five, high five sport, first aid and CPR. For the past 15 years he has been managing, supervising, instructing and coaching a variety of sports at overnight camps, day camps and sports specialty schools. Joey also has international coaching experience in a variety of sports.

ALEX LOPEZ
CUSTOMER RELATIONS SPECIALIST / EVENT MANAGER

Our other tour manager, Alex, played college tennis in Florida before returning to Canada to work in finance and technology for most of his professional career. His strength on the tour is in IT, and is one of the most likeable people you will ever meet.