Eden Lică, 39 years old, grew up on the same tennis court with Simona Halep in Constanța and won titles with Horia Tecău in “doubles”, and now she is making a sensation across the Ocean, where she gives lessons to Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, legends in tennis, in the sport that drove America crazy, pickleball.
Eden Lică, on the field, next to the great Andre Agassi
“I have known Simona Halep since she was 6 years old, because she started playing tennis at the same sports school (LPS CSS 2) in Constanța, where I trained”, recalls Eden Lică, the son of a former referee with a FIFA badge, Marcel Lică, a generational colleague of Ilie Balaci and Victor Pițurcă in the group coached by Ion Gârleșteanu at the University of Craiova, the last former president of Farul Constanța.
“Unfortunately, I managed to see Simona for the last time in a sad situation, at the funeral of our former coach, professor Ene Nicușor, 5 years ago”, remembers Eden, who has lived for a decade in the United States of America, where he left as a tennis player and became a force in pickleball, the sport with the most spectacular growth in popularity in the last quarter of a century.
“Brother” with Tecau, trainer for Agassi and Roddick
“I have a special friendship with Horia Tecău, we grew up as brothers, we were national champions with CSS LPS Constanța, we won double titles in Romania and abroad. We grew up together from the age of 7-8 on the tennis courts“, says Eden.
Life brought him around legends, former world leaders who changed the history of tennis, just as he can become a leader in pickleball. It is the sport in which Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, two Grand Slam winners and former ATP number 1, chose the Romanian as their coach.
Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, with Eden Lica on the opposite side of the net
“When I found out I was going to coach Agassi and Roddick I felt like I had conquered a Grand Slam tournament! I grew up watching Agassi’s matches, he was my childhood idol“, confesses the Constantinian. He does not hide the tremor in his voice. He is the Romanian who beat Rafael Nadal in a training set requested by the uncle and coach of the “Matador”, Toni Nadal.
“AI was called by the Major League Pickleball manager and Andrei Dăescu (No. – former Davis Cup player for Romania in 2012), my friend and partner, who suggested that I work with Agassi and Roddick to help them set up a technique and a tactical strategy for the million dollar match played against John McEnroe and Michael Chang”, Eden describes how he became the ideal pickeball coach for the legendary Americans at the “Hard Rock Casino” in Hollywood, Florida.
“The match was extremely close against Chang and McEnroe, but tactics made the difference. Agassi and Roddick were more disciplined as a strategy transferred from tennis to pickleball, they committed fewer unforced errors, which is why they won the points played in the decisive moments. That’s what I worked with them in training and it turned out that the tactically more malleable team got their hands on the million dollar pot“, points out Eden.
Andre Agassi listens carefully to Eden
“A funny moment was when Agassi pulled off an amazing lapel passing shot down the line that left us all speechless. He turned to me and Steffi Graf (No. – Agassi’s wife) and tells us: “Don’t be surprised, with this backhand I have paid many bills in my life“, Lică reveals the moment after McEnroe challenged Steffi Graf and invited her to the field.
“Just kidding, looks like I did a good job! Agassi and Roddick won the million dollars, but what impressed me, especially with Andre, was the modesty and respect shown“, opines Eden, who does not hesitate to say that the experience lived with the former world leaders of men’s tennis was “the most beautiful and emotional moment of my life“.
“Together with Andrei Daescu and Alex Pop Moldovan (No. – former Romanian tennis players and coaches now resident in Florida), supported by the family, we are trying to establish the pickleball federation in Romania”, announces Eden Lică.
Eden pairs with Andrei Dăescu
“I can say that pickleball is a little more affordable here in America financially because there are a lot of public fields where kids, adults, of all ages can play for free. Even at private clubs, courts are cheaper to rent than tennis courts. Private lessons on the other hand have the same cost as tennis, and quality paddles are quite expensive, almost as much as a tennis racket, around 200 dollars. But one palette can be used even for a year“, reveals the secrets of pickleball Lică, two-time national indoor doubles champion of the United States.
The world ranking, with Andrei Dăescu on 4th place, and Eden Lică – on 10th
He teams up with Andrei Dăescu, winner of over 50 gold medals in professional tournaments (singles and doubles), world Top 10 player for the last 4 years.
Andre and Eden as two friends
“Phantom Pickleball makes my paddles, they are custom made for me, they cover my travel costs and all expenses”, Eden Lică does not hide how his figure ended up being printed on the paddles used by hundreds of thousands of pickleball players (amateur or professional), in the United States of America.
Eden Lică has his face printed on game paddles
“I train many of the American showbiz celebrities who have properties in Florida (Miami, Boca Raton, Delry Beach) but also when I was in the Hamptons (No. – neighborhood in New York). I gave private lessons to Leonardo Di Caprio, Brooke Shields, Will Ferrell or Khloé Kardashian“, Liča explains the formidable “grip” that pickleball has.
It is a tennis-like sport in which two or four players hit a perforated plastic ball, hollow on the inside, over a tennis net (0.91 m) high, using paddles the size of common kitchen wood chippers Romanian.
