Four Seasons Resort O‘ahu at Ko Olina

Four Seasons Tenure

• Since 2019
• First Four Seasons Assignment: On-Call Tennis Coach, Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina

Employment History

• Punahou School, Honolulu; The Pacific Club, Honolulu; various tennis academies in Spain and Italy; World Tennis Association-ranked professional tennis player

Education

• Bachelors Degree, Sports Management, Naval Academy, Rome

Birthplace

• Naples, Italy

Languages Spoken

• Italian, Spanish, English

“I can tell right away if they’re here to sharpen their skills or to have fun and get some exercise,” says Roberta Russo of the clientele she observes closely, teaches passionately, and invites to experience her favorite game as Tennis Pro at Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina. “We’re basically the only tennis facility in the Ko Olina community. The more we grow our programming, the more people we draw, so we want to get them excited.”

Russo brings a lot to her job, not least a one-time world ranking of 600 from the World Tennis Association and years of experience on the professional circuit, including making the cut for the French Open and Italian Open.

These days her turf is the rooftop of Naupaka Spa & Wellness Centre, the Resort destination for relaxation, exhilaration and healing. Six floors above ground level are three tennis courts bathed by sun, kissed by sea breezes, and fashioned with plexi-plav surface for superior performance. There are also four pickleball courts in a space once occupied by a tennis court, and a half court-size basketball court that guests use for everything from pickup games to practicing three-pointers.

Russo runs an efficient operation, overseeing all tennis instruction and programming, including tracking reservations, pairing solo players, coordinating round robin tournaments, and minding the high-quality equipment that comes complimentary for use with a court. She has one on-call instructor to share lessons, and she often teams with the Resort’s dedicated Wellness Specialist – “a very good player and coach” – for group offerings that pair tennis and yoga to instill a healthy dose of wellness into the game.

Everyone who picks up a racquet at the Resort has a personal goal, she says. “Some just want to continue the instruction they’ve been working on at home; others are in it for fitness; and others want to meet socialize on something in common.” Her goal is to offer everyone a fun environment: creating games, being energetic, and getting players talking. “It's a social moment. We want to make it rewarding, wherever people are in their game.”

Hailing from Naples in the southwest of Italy, Russo discovered tennis as a five-year-old, watching players at a local tennis court near her home. She was the first in her family to take up the game. “I used to just gaze out the window at the court: I didn’t even know what tennis was called. I fell in love with it the minute I played.”

Her parents supported her ambition, particularly her father, an oncologist who frequently drove her to lessons and matches. After getting the hang the game, she started out at junior tennis tournaments at age 9, played in her first international tournament at 12, and entered a tennis academy/boarding school in Barcelona, Spain, at 15. “That’s when things got really serious.”

Returning to Naples after a year, Russo’s career “took off.” At her peak at ages 16 and 17, she found different coaches for different skills, traveled widely to tournaments, and rose in world rankings. She went on to study sports management in college, but before long suffered an ankle injury that required rehabilitation. It was a frustrating moment.

“It was hard to get back to the same level after I recovered, but I still loved the game,” she remembers. “That was when I said, ‘Okay, now I’ve got to be real’.”

So in her early 20s, she turned her talent to coaching, gradually gathering the qualifications necessary to train others professionally. She taught at various tennis academies in Spain and Italy before relocating to Oahu in 2014, where she lent her expertise first to a private club, then to a private school. She joined Four Seasons in 2019 as an On-Call Tennis Coach and assumed her current position the following year.

Russo recently expanded her racquet sports expertise with certification as a pickleball instructor. She is impressed with the popularity of the game. “When I first saw it, I thought no tennis player would ever want to play pickleball, but I was wrong,” she admits with a laugh. “It’s very social, and you can play a real game on your first day. I can see why it’s caught on.”

Away from the rooftop courts, Russo is happiest being active out in the sun or enjoying downtime on her own at home. She takes jazz voice lessons – “my parents were in a band when I was younger” – she likes to write, and she is involved with a group that organizes wheelchair tennis tournaments and raises funding for people who need personal mobility devices but are unable to afford them. It’s something she got started with back in Italy. “I really admire their mission,” she says of the group, “and it’s right up my alley.”