Meet Our Tennis Staff

Tim Blenkiron, Executive Director of Tennis

A native Australian, Tim Blenkiron came to Las Vegas to attend UNLV (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) on a tennis scholarship in 1993. In 1997 he made history by winning the NCAA doubles championship with partner Luke Smith. This was and is UNLV's only NCAA tennis championship title. In 2008 Blenkiron was inducted into the UNLV Sports Hall of Fame.

After graduating from the hotel management school in 1998, Blenkiron's passion and love for the game of tennis led him into coaching the junior program at Canyon Gate Country club. Here he developed a number of players to become top 10 in the United States. As a result he caught the eye of tennis legend Andre Agassi and his manager Perry Rogers, who recruited Blenkiron to run the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation program.
After taking the job with Agassi, Blenkiron's coaching passion resulted in every child from the Boys and Girls Club program getting a scholarship to college. In addition, on two courts in the inner city, Tim Blenkiron was responsible for helping over 20 children obtain national tennis rankings, with 3 reaching top 5 in the United States and over 6 reaching a ranking of top 30 in the United States. In all, Team Agassi under Blenkiron’s leadership has won over 40 state, sectional and national titles, including 6 super national championships and 1 international championship.
Many of the children Tim Blenkiron developed are now playing college tennis on scholarship at prestigious Universities such as Howard, USC, University of Massachusetts, Syracuse and more.
Just this past year his student Asia Muhammad was offered countless college scholarships, but due to her success on the WTA tour, has become a professional tennis player. Muhammad, coached by Blenkiron, reached the finals of the Tennis Channel Open, this year beating professional players top 60, 70 and 90 in the world. This past July Asia and Blenkiron won their first professional tennis tournament in Texas. A win over the #2 junior player in the world helped Muhammad get chosen by the USTA as this years US OPEN wild card, as well as one of three players they have chosen to be the future of American women’s professional tennis.
Blenkiron is also President of the USTA in the state of Nevada, a board member of USTA-Intermountain section and the Marty Hennessy Jr. Tennis Foundation. Tim is Director of Vegas Tennis Management which runs the tennis programs at the Las Vegas Hilton and the Meadows School. He is married to Lisa Blenkiron, also a UNLV tennis graduate and has two children, Sara and Dylan.

Hassan Humayun, Director of Tennis

Hassan Humayun has been newly appointed as the Director of Tennis at the Las Vegas Hilton. He brings more than ten years experience in managing a wide range of tennis programs and has a Professional 1 certification from the USPTA. “I am looking forward to developing new tennis players and promoting a healthy lifestyle in the Las Vegas community,” said Humayun, also a PTR-certified Professional. “Some of the game’s most valuable benefits include stress release, discipline, and improvement of hand-eye coordination, along with the great physical advantages and a huge opportunity for exciting social interaction.” Before joining the Las Vegas Hilton, Humayun was the Director of Sports at Spring Valley Lake Country Club in Victorville, CA. He has experience running $25,000 tennis tournaments, round robins and adult USTA teams. Humayun has coached a variety of players including ranked juniors, college, open, and wheelchair players. Most recently his Special Olympics student won the Gold Medal in singles for 2009.

Billy DeRango, Tennis Professional

Billy DeRango was born in Chicago, Illinois . At a young age moved to Orange County, California where at the age of 7 years old developed a passion for tennis & music. This creative passion continued thru College and currently to date. Played Tennis at Citrus Junior college in Glendora , California in 1984 and was later , recruited on a partial Scholarship for tennis at Cal Poly University in Pomona ,California .

1990 to 1994 , traveled and competed in several, $10,000 USTA qualifier tennis circuits all over the United States. Gained a lot of match play experience on this Semi Pro Tour. Many of yesterdays and today’s top world class players were also qualifiers on these USTA circuits.

1994- 1997 : His major in business @Cal Poly helped him to open up his own tennis center called ” The Advanced Tennis Training Center” in Orange County He owned and Directed a 4 court tennis center by implementing adult and junior programs for beginner to advanced level players. Through this period become a USPTA Certified Tennis Professional .

1997- 2002 : Director of Junior player development at The Racquet Club Of Irvine, in Orange county California . His involvement at this 26 court facility was to create programs for the beginner to advanced level player.

2002 2006 : Tennis Professional at The Newport Beach Tennis Club in Newport Beach, California. Adults and Junior Development.

2007 to 2009: Director Of Tennis @ The Las Vegas Hilton. Billy is currently focusing on training top level juniors and tourism for the Las Vegas Hilton.

Daniel Buongiorno, USPTA Teaching Professional

Danny brings an intense love and passion for the game of tennis. With over 15 years experience in developing talent of all levels, he has touched many people with the same growth and happiness that has fulfilled his life. His experience has equipped him with the tools necessary to provide exceptional on court instruction as well as proven management, administrative, and marketing skills. He has been influential in the community, which has helped him to operate his own business Next Level Tennis & Fitness. Danny believes and is committed to offering tennis as a way of life for the future!