Learning the basics of tennis at age nine from 1937 Davis Cup Champ Felix Ampon, Beeyong honed his skills at the Philippine Columbian (est. 1903) where in him the Davis Cup ideals of the “Scholar Athlete” was deeply ingrained.
At sixteen, he played his first Open Professional Tournament in Indonesia against the 1973 World Singles Champion John Newcombe.
A protégé of Willie Hernandez Jr., the 1960's Wimbledon player who beat int'l legend Arthur Ashe at a 4-day Arizona tournament. Beeyong at 17 was awarded a full scholarship grant by the Odessa Junior College, in Texas U.S.A. where he completed an Associate in Arts degree.
Ranked No.1 by the National Junior College Association (NJCAA) in 1975 while at Odessa, he was later named to the “All-American Team” in 1976 after he won the NJCAA Singles and Doubles Championship with fellow Filipino Perfecto Alina Jr.
The years 1977-78 saw Beeyong being awarded another full scholarship (Business Administration) from Oklahoma City University and making it to the NCAA top 32 College Players of America.
International Tennis Professional
Joining the ATP in 1978 and moving forward, Beeyong went on to play at Wimbledon , the U.S. Open, French Open and Australian Open Grand Slam events and also represented the Philippines in the Davis Cup.
In 1981, Beeyong reached the Doubles Quarter-Finals in the French Open. He also reached the round of 16's for both the South Australian Open in Adelaide (Singles) and the World of Doubles ATP Championship in Florida with Swiss partner Markus Gundhart. In Florida , Beeyong saw action against world double's greats Stan Smith and Bob Lutz.
In 1982, the third round of doubles at the French and U.S. Open and round of 16's at Wimbledon and the US Hall of Fame Championships where his run was stopped by Vijay Amrithraj of India .
Until 1984 he played against the top 20 ATP players such as Guillermo Vilas of Argentina, Eliot Telscher of the U.S. and had won over Australian, John Marks, the Australian Open Finalist; Onny Parun of New Zealand, the Wimbledon Quarter-finalist Kevin Curren of South Africa, the Wimbledon Singles Runner-up; and Brazilian Thomas Koch, a Davis Cupper.
World Class Mentor
In 1983, Beeyong extended his expertise and aided The Philippine National Tennis Development Program (NTDP) under Willie Hernanadez at the Manila Polo Club. The NTDP has produced the country's top juniors with the likes of Felix Barrientos and Antonio del Rosario, Singles and Doubles Junior Wimbledon Semi-finalists; Manuel Tolentino, No.1 ITF Junior Player. Rolando So and Raymond Suarez, Joseph Lizardo and Michael Misa.
When Beeyong retired from Professional Tennis in 1984, He accepted the invitation to be the Head Pro at the Basel Lawn Tennis Club. With an enrollment of 500 students at one time, his Elite Competition Program led the growth and development of several junior players to become the country's best players.
In 1987, a fifteen year old talented student named Emmanuel Marmillod defeated Kevin Curren, the previous year's Wimbledon Singles runner-up to Boris Becker, in straight sets in Lausanne. Another student, Laurent Nagelsein became one of France 's top junior players, also winning the coveted title of Basler Meister as well as several European Championships.
Perhaps Beeyong's influence was also reflected on a French-Swiss youngster named Stephen Oberer, the Swiss national Head Coach and mentor of Olympic Gold Medalist Marc Rosset of Switzerland.
Beeyong also served as the Swiss National coach Assistant between 1986 to 1988 and as a consultant to numerous international tennis organizations.
By 1989 Beeyong formally established the International Tennis School (ITS) of Basel, Switzerland. |
