Staff

Phil Cello is a coaching legend in Northern California. A member of the NorCal Tennis Hall of Fame, Phil's accomplishments both on and off the court regarding the game of tennis speak for themselves and for his love of the sport. Phil started the Cello International Tennis Academy in 1986, and boasts a repertoire of students that now includes over 200 collegiate-level players, more than 15 professional players, and even a Grand Slam champion. In addition to U.S. standouts, Phil has coached over 30 players from the Chinese National Team beginning in 1986. 

Phil has worked as the director for the Nike Junior Tour National Masters for 13 years, during which time he has coached notables such as Madison Keys and Stefan Kozlov. He also runs two other major events: the Zimmerman-Johnson National Tournament at Stanford, a USTA National Level II event that brings together top U.S. juniors and international players from the world, and the ATP Men's $100,000 Challenger held at Solano Community College.

Andy joins the CITA coaching staff in June 2021 and brings with him a wealth of tennis knowledge and experience coaching at every level of the sport. Most recently, he was a National Coach for the USTA and acted as the Head of Women's Team USA. Based out of the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, FL, he was responsible for helping our young, promising female pros become mainstays on the WTA tour. During his time there he also received his USPTA Elite and USTA High Performance coaching certifications.

Andy has  coached privately on the WTA tour for a number of years as well. Most notably, he helped 2-time NCAA All-American Danielle Lao reach her career high singles ranking (WTA #153) and assisted Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova during their stint as the #1 ranked doubles team in the world. He's served on the coaching staff of men's and women's NCAA Div. I college teams and helped develop dozens of junior players that have gone on to play at NCAA Div. 1 and Div. 2 programs.

Rajan has served on the CITA coaching staff for a number of years. A graduate of the CITA junior development program, he went on to play #1 singles for the Solano Community College tennis team before transferring to Holy Names University in Oakland, CA.