Amherst Hills' 'Master Professional' wins Hall of Fame endorsement

Todd Miller, Master Professional, won a landslide vote by the Buffalo Tennis Hall of Fame as their next representative from the sport of tennis for induction into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.

Todd Miller, Amherst Hills Tennis Club's Executive Director and head professional since 1980, has previously been inducted into four athletic Halls of Fame. Perhaps a fifth awaits.

The Buffalo Tennis Hall of Fame selection committee chose Miller from all of its current inductees as their overwhelming choice to be the next from tennis to join the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.

Past inductees from tennis include Jimmy Arias, Bobby Banck, Charlie Garfinkel, Bob Hetherington, Ethel Marshall and Bea Massman.

Miller is the most accomplished tennis coach in Buffalo history. Last year he became only the 25th individual in world history to be named Professional Tennis Registry "Master Professional." The PTR, comprised of over 12,000 coaches in 123 countries, honored Miller with the designation for his lifetime of career achievement in coaching. He is the only Master Professional in Buffalo history.

Through his career, he has been named International Tester of the Year, Eastern Coach of the Year and New York State Professional of the Year.

In 2006, Todd, his wife Debbie and children, Tina and Tony, were named United States Tennis Association Eastern Tennis Family of the Year. (The John McEnroe family were past recipients of this award.)

Additional titles for Miller include USA High Performance Coach, PTR National Clinician, PTR National Certification Tester, USTA National Coach and president of PTR Eastern.

Miller has previously been inducted into the J.C.C. of Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame (1990), Sweet Home Athletic Hall of Fame (2001), University at Buffalo Athletic Hall of Fame (2002) and the inaugural class of the Buffalo Tennis Hall of Fame (2005).

Miller has the longest head professional tenure and since 1980, has directed the largest junior program in Buffalo history. He has coached national champions, NCAA Division I All-Americans and countless numbers to college scholarships, USTA National and sectional rankings, high school sectional titles and MUNY and City Open championships.

Miller has been instrumental in the success of dozens of teachers and coaches. Under his guidance, ten assistants have become collegiate head coaches and ten have become head professionals.

As a national clinician and tester for the PTR, he has educated and professionally certified over 50 local coaches. He has provided further education by bringing to Buffalo and presenting clinics with world renown coaches like Brett Hobden (Australian author of "Modern Tennis"), Pete Collins (author of "Successful Doubles" video series) and Luke Jensen (former French Open doubles champion).

In 2004, he created, hosted and directed the PTR Eastern Symposium for coaches, which featured Master Professionals and some of the industry's premier speakers.

For eight years, he was Empire Sports' Fan TV's guest tennis analyst. He has been a featured speaker at events like the PTR International Tennis Symposium and is a published author, most recently producing an eight-page article titled "Net Wisdom" which appeared in Tennis Pro, distributed internationally.

Miller has presented the Buffalo tennis community numerous events and exhibitions, with some attracting over 500 spectators. The 2004 "Night of Stars" featured Arias, Aaron Krickstein (formerly sixth in the world) and the Jensen brothers.

Formerly, Miller was head professional of Westwood and Park County Clubs. He also coached at the Bolletieri (Bradenton, Fla.) and Kesl (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) Academies, where he trained some of the world's most talented junior players, including two Wimbledon junior champions.

A former UB star from 1977 to 1980, Miller still holds the school record for highest winning percentage (86 percent) for a first singles player. In 1985, he captured the Buffalo City Open Singles Championship, defeating UB All-American Ken White in the finals. Seven years earlier, he reached the championship match before falling to Hetherington. Through the years, he has won numerous local titles, including six City Doubles titles and six City Mixed Doubles championships and the 1995 MUNY 35 singles crown.