Survivors breathe life into Woodside tennis

Grant was quite a find for Woodside. A former professional player who began her career on the WTA circuit when she was 18 — she climbed to the No. 76 ranked doubles team in the world in 2002 — the native of South Africa relocated to the Bay Area after retiring and opened the Kim Grant Tennis Academy in Palo Alto in 2008, and soon met Denenberg when she took her on as a student.

“She’s the real deal,” Denenberg said. “She knows how to play tennis.”

It was through the tennis world that Denenberg also met Dr. Jocelyn Dunn. The two were good friends through the sport for years, playing as teammates at the Alpine Hills Tennis & Swimming Club. It was a friendship that would ultimately save Denenberg’s life, she said, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2020 during the outset of the COVID pandemic.

Dunn is a specialist in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in Palo Alto, and treated Denenberg at the Stanford Medical Center. Denenberg underwent chemotherapy and breast surgery. She has now been in remission for over two years.

“I’m good — in remission,” Denenberg said. “All my hair grew back.”

While Denenberg was undergoing treatment, she stayed intently involved in the Woodside tennis program. While her cancer treatment was saving her life, Denenberg was concurrently acting as a lifeline to high school students who, during COVID quarantines, had few recreational options available to them.

The pandemic, as it turned out, was a makeweight to tennis’ natural adaptation to social distancing. So, at a time when the world was universally going stir crazy, one of the earliest options to do something, to do anything, was to play tennis. Denenberg seized on the opportunity and took the chance to bring Grant into the Woodside fold.

“I don’t think they had been playing in the summer, and we have this amazing coach who is a former tour player,” Denenberg said, who drew a line between Grant and the resurgence of the Woodside boys’ tennis team in recent years. “They’ve been working incredibly hard.”

Grant is something of a survivor herself.

Growing up in the city of Klerksdorp, South Africa — located 100 miles southwest of Johannesburg — Grant didn’t have immediate access to the tennis world. But watching a match on television between Billie Jean King and Chris Evert as a child turned out to be a revelation.

“I turned around and told my mom: ‘I’m going pro,’” Grant said. “My mom thought I’d grow out of it, and I never did.”

As a singles player, Grant reached a high ranking of No. 414 in the world in 1995 at age 24. She’d go up against opponents known among the best in the world, such as Lindsay Davenport, Anna Kournikova and Martina Hingis, and earned a vcitory over Jennifer Capriati. Injuries, however, who interrupt Grant’s career, and derail her promise as an up-and-coming singles player.

After returning home to Klerksdorp, though, Grant discovered she had a knack for coaching.

“I only coached so I could survive, and I turned out to be pretty good at it,” Grant said.

Grant suffered two shoulder tears in her career, the first effectively ending her singles career. She returned as a doubles standout partnering with Liezel Huber, and went on to compete on four Grand Slam stages — the Australian Open, two appearances in each the French Open and US Open, and three appearances at Wimbledon from 2000-02.

She earned her final tournament purse in 2007 playing doubles with Surina De Beer before retiring at age 36. Grant went on to coach De Beer and Seda Noorlander, both who reached top 50 rankings in the WTA.

“I think like a champion,” Grant said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done what I’ve done, and struggled like I’ve struggled.”

It was the following year, in 2008, that Grant founded the Kim Grant Tennis Academy. It was the San Francisco Peninsula’s good fortune that Grant’s agent, Marla Ono, resided in Portola Valley. Grant lived with Ono for a short time while getting her academy up and running. And it was her academy that eventually led her to meeting Denenberg and finding her way to coaching in the public-school ranks at Woodside.

“It’s really cool,” Grant said. “And the kids are so fun.”

In Grant’s second year running the Woodside boys’ tennis program, the Wildcats are facing struggles of their own in the PAL Bay Division. While first-place Aragon and reigning Bay Division champion San Mateo are currently duking it out at the top of the standings, Woodside is currently in sixth place in the eight-team division, boosting its league record to a respectable 3-5 last Thursday with a 7-0 win at Half Moon Bay.

It was Woodside’s second win of the year over last-place HMB, but both those wins are meaningful for players like fourth-year varsity senior Justin Lee. Two years ago, a season prior to Grant and Denenberg taking over the boys’ program, Woodside was battling neck and neck with HMB in the PAL Ocean Division. It was HMB that won the 2022 PAL Ocean championship and earned the right to move up to the Bay Division in 2023.

“Last year in the Ocean Division we were undefeated,” Lee said. “Even two years ago, before we came up, our only two loses were to Half Moon Bay, who went undefeated, got first, and then moved up last year. So, we kind of knew we were right with them and that we could compete in the Bay Division, even last year. And we just kind of set out to show that this year.”

With four incoming freshmen this year, there is a sense the Woodside boys may just be getting started. One thing is for sure, though. The Wildcats are in the excellent hands of two coaches with strikingly unique resumes.

“Really, building on the team has just lifted the whole level of performance,” Denenberg said.