At The Net w/ Anna Bielen Zarska, Robbie Wagner’s Tournament Training Center

At last year’s USTA Eastern Long Island Region Awards Dinner, Anna Bielen-Zarska was honored with one of the organization’s top awards: Junior Tennis Professional of the Year. It was a proper recognition for someone who has dedicated her life to the sport, and helping young people reach their potential.

“I put in a lot of work, and I always try to do my best. It touches my heart to know that people see it, and recognize it,” she said. “Receiving that award was incredibly special. My players know that I teach lessons as early as 5:30 a.m. on some days, and stay late on other days. I always try to be the first one in, and the last one out.”

Bielen-Zarska is one of the top teaching professionals at Robbie Wagner’s Tournament Training Center, and she carries that mentality with her to every lesson she gives on court, and has been doing so since she joined the facility’s team two decades ago.

About 20 years ago,  while visiting family in New York, she began receiving offers from multiple tennis clubs to coach here. Bielen-Zarska was already an accomplished player and coach in Poland, but loved being in the United States, and decided to give teaching tennis here a shot.

The best offer she received was from Robbie Wagner’s, and as she says:

“The rest is history.”

Bielen-Zarska’s tennis journey is a unique one. Growing up in the small Polish town of Kędzierzyn-Koźle, tennis was not a sport commonly played. Her father was an ice hockey player, and Bielen-Zarska’s first foray into sports was figure skating.

However, her father learned how to play tennis and became a pioneer for the sport in their town, and put a racquet in his daughter’s hands when she was seven-years-old.

“He and his friends built the first tennis club there, and I remember winning the first local tournament when I was eight,” she recalls. “I beat a lot of older boys, and that was a really special moment for me. It was then I knew I loved tennis, and realized I could be good.”

Bielen-Zarska would go on to be the top-ranked junior player in Poland throughout her teenage years before turning pro. As a professional player, she climbed as high as 146th in singles and 176th in doubles on the WTA Tour, playing in all four majors and representing Poland in Fed Cup play on three occasions.

“My most memorable achievement was winning two pro titles back-to-back in Poland,” she recalls. “It is always special to win big events in your home country.”

After a successful playing career, Bielen-Zarska knew she wanted to remain in the sport of tennis. She graduated with a masters degree from a top business school in Poland, but the tennis court continued to call her. Despite having other career pursuits, working with tennis players was where she wanted to be.

“I enjoy training competitive players. I feel that I have a lot to share and a lot to teach,” she explains. “I like traveling to tournaments and watching matches, but mostly I just enjoy being on the court and doing the ground work. No matter the time, no matter the day. Many people call tennis coaching a lifestyle and it certainly is. Tennis is my calling, and as challenging as it is, I enjoy every minute of it.”

And what has made that even more enjoyable is watching her son, Sebastian, grow into one of the top junior tennis players in the country. He  has a UTR north of 12, has won three Gold Balls at USTA National Championships, and is set to join the Clemson Tigers when he begins his college career in the Fall of 2027.

Despite tennis being her love, Bielen-Zarska made sure to put Sebastian into multiple sports when he was young so that it would be up to him if he wanted to continue playing tennis.

“My son started playing very early, pretty much as soon as he could walk,” she recalls. “I also introduced him to many other sports, like soccer, basketball, badminton, pickleball, track & field and fencing. Among all of those, he decided tennis was his thing, and that’s what he loves the most. Tennis is an extremely difficult and demanding sport, but it teaches crucial life skills like discipline, resilience, perseverance and mental toughness. It has been an incredible journey to coach, and watch my own son grow as a person and a tennis player. I am beyond proud of all of his accomplishments and hard work, and I truly believe the best is yet to come.”

For the last 20 years, Bielen-Zarska has been helping mold a generation of top tennis players, which includes her son Sebastian, but also countless others. She is a USTA High Performance Coach and a Specialist in Competitive Player Development who also serves as the Chair on the USTA Junior Competition Committee. With all of those accolades and titles, witnessing the growth of the players she works with on court is still what keeps her motivated.

Bielen-Zarska can be found on the courts of the Robbie Wagner’s Tournament Training Center, helping guide young players on their tennis journeys.

“We currently train several top ranked juniors nationally and internationally,” she said. “I think it is very motivating for the aspiring competitors to see other players from here do well, and we will continue to provide the best coaching and guidance that we can to all of our players.”