Tan Xu Teng, known affectionately by his students as Coach XT, started his tennis coaching journey in 2001 when he was an undergraduate in the Law Faculty of the National University of Singapore. It was at this time that he realised the need for top level tennis coaches to raise the standards of coaching and elevate the general tennis level of Singapore. He set his mind and vision of attracting the best tennis players who has had extensive playing success in region, and started Tennis Allegiance Group (TAG) International in 2007.
High-Performance Student/ Trainees
Coach XT’s work in developing and producing top level juniors in Singapore and regionally is widely recognised in the industry. At any point of time, Coach XT is usually working with the #1 player or age group champion of the Singapore Tennis Association (STA) SPEX Tournaments, who are called up to be part of the Junior National Teams in Singapore.
2023
2022
2019
2018
2017
Other top level juniors Coach XT has mentored over the years
Professional Playing Career
Coach XT is well regarded as one of the top Singaporean Men’s tennis players to this day. Coach XT represented Singapore to win an individual Bronze Medal in the ASEAN University Team 2004 in his competitive days. He also achieved a career high international ranking of #56 in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Men’s 35+ Tour. Furthermore, he was Singapore’s ranked #1 Men’s Doubles player (August 2018), Singapore Open Champion 2019 and Men’s 35+ Pesta Sukan Champion. His playing achievements and coaching success led him to be appointed as the Senior Coach of the ActiveSG Tennis Academy and to be a coach of Singapore’s Men’s National Team in 2018.
Coach XT plays right handed and is known as one of Singapore’s best tennis tacticians. Playing with a single handed backhand that is able to drive through the ball with massive topspin or a knifing slice, Coach XT employs an all-court counter punching style of tennis that takes advantage of an opponent’s weakness, and imposing heavy pressure on his opponents with a willingness to approach the net on any floating balls or when he senses an opponent may be in trouble. Coach XT’s singles game is supplemented by his superior fitness, movement agility and effective court coverage.
Coach XT competed on the ITF Men’s Singles 35+ Seniors Tour from 2017-2018. The tournaments took place in Hong Kong, China, Australia (Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra) and the United Kingdom. Posting impressive wins in men’s singles the tournaments, Coach XT rose to a world ranking of #56, the highest ever achieved for a Singaporean.
Coach XT graduated from Raffles Institution in 1996 and Raffles Junior College in 1998, captaining the team to the gold medal and A division champions, beating Anglo-Chinese Junior College 4-1 in the finals.
Coaching Education and Credentials
Coach XT’s role in the development of top level tennis players was so stellar that when SportSG and ActiveSG started it’s own ActiveSG Tennis Academy, Coach XT has appointed as its first Senior Coach, putting all the frameworks and foundations of the Academy in place. For his work in producing a disproportionately large number of top level juniors, he was invited to present his methods at the WTA Coaches Conference when the BNP WTA World Tour Finals presented by SC Global to other coaches in Singapore and the region.
Coach XT is a very experienced and highly certified tennis coach. He holds a Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) Full Professional coaching certification for elite juniors between ages of 11-17 directly issued by Dan Santorum, as well as the AustralAsian Academy of Tennis Coaches (AATC) Level 2 Coaching Certificate. Furthermore, he is a fully certified Mental Toughness coach and trainer certified by the Mental Toughness Research Institute (MTRI). He also attended numerous tennis coaching workshops by SPORTSG, ActiveSG Tennis Academy, and studied under many tennis mentors such as Robert Davis, Danai Udomchoke (ATP #77), Thanakorn Srichaphan and Wataru Ochic, who is the coach of former ladies world number 4 Kimiko Date, ladies world number 1 doubles player Ai Sugiyama and Japan’s Go Soeda.
Coach XT as PTR certified professional coach for 11 to 17 year olds
Coach XT was appointed as the first Senior Coach at ActiveSG
Coach XT’s work in developing elite juniors is so widely recognised in Singapore that when Singapore hosted the BNP Paribas WTA Finals powered by SC Global, for the WTA Coaches Conference attended by international and local coaches alike, Coach XT was invited to present a paper and share his methods for the development of top level juniors. His paper “The Little Differences that make a Big Difference in the Development of High Performance Juniors” was very insightful and well-received by the audience, who fielded many questions on how best to help their students or children become high-level tennis players.
Coach XT was also a coach to the Singapore Men’s National Team in 2018, where the team achieved promotion in Davis Cup.
Coach XT’s exceptional coaching skills is recognised by many people, which even includes professional tennis players, Gael Monfils, Andre Adassi, Takao Suzuki and Tim Rath.
Schools and Ministry of Education
Coach XT is a tennis coach in Singapore accredited by the National Registry of Coaches (NROC) by CoachSG, and is also registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE). He is also a Basic First Aid and AED Certified by Emergencies and Rescue First Aid. Coach XT has been the Head Coach of Nanyang Girls’ High School (NYGH) since 2018, leading the team to consecutive top 4 finishes ever since. As Head Coach, he has coached the team to several high profile upsets over more favourited schools such as Raffles Girls School, Methodist Girls School, and the Singapore Chinese Girls School. In 2023, as his students graduated from NYGH to promote to Hwa Chong Institution, he was invited to follow them and he now coaches the girls on a six year tennis journey.
2022 – 3rd place
2019 – 2nd place
As Senior Coach of ActiveSG Tennis Academy, Coach XT also took charge of the Ministry of Education’s Junior Sports Academy tennis program, which focuses on talented athletes from other fields of sports to learn tennis as part of a talent development and exposure program.
Winchester Tennis Area (WTA)
In 2013, from the changing weather conditions in Singapore, Coach XT saw the need for indoor tennis courts. At the time, the only indoor tennis courts were at the Singapore Island Country Club, Keppel Club and the Four Seasons Hotel. Working with Singapore state agencies, Coach XT constructed 4 premium indoor tennis courts nestled within the tranquil surroundings of Alexandra Park – Winchester Tennis Arena. Proving many naysers wrong about the viability of the project because of the scale and ambition of the project, Winchester Tennis Arena is now a decade old and is a proud home to the prestigious TAG International Tennis Academy, and several tennis clubs such as Paul Wong’s Sunday Tennis, TB Cougars, TNT Tennis Club, and the Law Society of Singapore.
Venue Management
Coach XT’s intimate understanding of the industry and its operations, coupled with his management experience at the 70,000 sqft Wave House Sentosa enabled him to set up the club and venue management arm of TAG International, where venues will outsource their in-house tennis programs, and venue management to TAG Management. Presently, TAG manages facilities such as Winchester Tennis Arena, TAG @ One-North, Novotel@Stevens and Chinese Swimming Club, with venue rental arrangements in several other venues such as Tanah Merah Country Club and a number of International Schools in Singapore. Past venues under TAG management include SAFRA Mount Faber, SAFRA Yishun, SAFRA Tampines, HomeTeamNS JOMS Balestier, Serangoon Gardens Country Club, and Warren Golf and Country Club.
Ladies WITS and LTS Teams
Coach XT also coaches ladies competitive teams on weekday mornings. Under his tutelage, particularly on Doubles Mastery, his teams have an impressive track record of steadily being promoted over the years. His teams include Tennity led by Mana Miyal in the Ladies Tennis Singapore (LTS); and in the Women’s International Tennis Singapore (WITS) – Absolute Global, Everything is Awesome, and previously Power Girls and Aces.
Corporate clinics
Coach XT’s ability to handle large groups together with his team of coaches enable the Academy to conduct multiple court corporate clinics for commercial entities, government sector agencies, and banks. High profile corporate recreation club clinics and ongoing classes include Shell Club, Singapore Power, DBS, OCBC, Credit Agricole, Standard Chartered Bank, Law Society of Singapore and SportCares.
Academia and career outside tennis
Coach XT scored 5A* and an aggregate of 276 in the PSLE and was educated in Raffles Institution, where he achieved 9 Distinctions and was awarded the Tan Geok Ser Award and a Special Testimonial as an outstanding Rafflesian. At Raffles Junior College, Coach XT was awarded the Shaw Foundation Scholarship for high achievement in academics and sports. Coach XT graduated from NUS Law School with Upper Honours in 2004 and was admitted to the Rolls of Advocates and Solicitors in the Singapore Bar. He joined one of Singapore’s most prestigious law firm WongPartnership before he was headhunted by his clients the Wave House | Wave Loch | Surf Loch Group of Companies to be the Group’s General Counsel for Asia-Pacific from 2009 to 2019. Under his leadership, Wave House Sentosa bagged many of the hospitality and entertainment industry’s nominations and awards from the Singapore Tourism Board and several prestigious magazines. Coach XT is now the owner of Singapore’s premier fine dining Japanese Omakase restaurant Miyu, Singapore’s only indoor public courts Winchester Tennis Arena, and Singapore’s premier tennis academy, TAG International.
Volunteering, Corporate Social Responsibility, Committees and Clubs
Since 2014, Coach XT has been running his charity called “Rally for Hope”, where through tennis related activities, fund raise for the less fortunate members of our country. To date, Rally for Home has raised more than S$160,000 after dollar matching by various private and public institutions to help the underprivileged in our country.
Coach XT is currently the Chairman of the Sports Committee of the Law Society of Singapore, and Vice-Chairman of the TNT Tennis Club and the International Council of Tennis Players for Singapore. He also served on the ministerial level Strategic Review Committee for SAFRA, and was also the Vice-Chairman of the SAFRA Punggol Concept Committee (PCC), SAFRA Development Committee (PDC), and the SAFRA Youth Network (SYNC).
Media
Coach XT’s work in the tennis industry and community is widely and highly regarded in Singapore and he is often sought after by the media such as Singapore Press Holdings and MediaCorp for interviews on his views relating to the industry.
Family
Coach XT is married to Su Hsien who is the Group General Manager of TAG International. They have a son, Marcus and their beloved family pet dog, Cookie.
TAG International Tennis Academy positioned itself in Singapore tennis market as an academy where all the coaches have had extensive competitive tennis success and who possesses the required experience to nurture top level competitive players to represent Singapore or pursue a competitive tennis career, and a centre where clients can always find a top level hit and sparring session. Within a few years, TAG International Tennis Academy became the undisputed hotbed where the country’s budding talents trained at, and where most of the country’s top level juniors trained at, and each coach has his own handful of top level juniors being developed by them. With so many of the country’s top level juniors being produced by the academy, TAG International was given the tag line by clients and student alike “At TAG International, Where Champions Learn to Play”.
Coach XT is the owner and head coach of TAG International Tennis Academy. TAG Tennis adopts a holistic teaching approach to provide the best tennis lessons in Singapore for all ages, from juniors to adults and from leisure tennis players to competitive tennis players of all skill levels with the highest quality and performance. Coach XT is supported by elite coaches from the region that are ex-professionals themselves and well-certified.
TAG International provides tennis lessons for people of all ages and skill level from beginners to intermediate and advanced players. The coaches focus on fundamental techniques, strategies and movement which are the three most important aspects of tennis. TAG International achieves this through tennis drills, fitness conditioning and match practice. Students can look forward to learning all the strokes in tennis: forehand, backhand, serves and volleys, which makes them capable for both singles and doubles play. Through match play, students will learn tennis rules and etiquette, including score-keeping and sportsmanship. If students are looking to play competitively, our coaches can provide tennis tournament preparation and coach them on mental toughness and focus, which is key in competitions. Furthermore, TAG International has their own high quality tennis balls that are used during lessons. At the start and end of every lesson, the coaches will guide students in warm-up and cool-down routines to help prevent injury, which is crucial in tennis and many other sports alike. Coaches will also provide player evaluation and feedback after each lesson to help in progress tracking.
TAG Tennis provides private tennis lessons for both juniors and adults which is flexible as you can choose the location and timing. The one-to-one sessions with individual attention ensure effective training and fast progress. There are also group junior lessons for all standards, this can help kids develop a love for the sport and learn the basics while having fun. On the other hand, competitive juniors can have effective match practice with others of the same standard and improve their skill level. Once students have had trial lessons and confirm a time slot with a coach, they have the option of buying packages which helps to reduce the price of each session, and is also part of a loyalty program.
Other than providing lessons, TAG International Tennis Academy also manages a variety of tennis courts on the island, these include Winchester Tennis Arena, Chinese Swimming Club, TAG @ One-North and Novotel @ Stevens.
At TAG Tennis we focus on being a reliable tennis academy in Singapore that students can depend on, always transparent with our clients. We are professional and competent, yet approachable and patient as we respond to your messages diligently while providing no frills lessons with fuss-free arrangements. Our team is made up of committed and capable people that are always willing to help anyone.