Clint Letcher was born and raised a tennis player.

He now brings his wealth of knowledge about the game to ASU — his alma mater.

Letcher played for the Sun Devils from 2001-2005, but is now the assistant coach of the women’s tennis team.

Letcher, 25, grew up in Melbourne, Australia where his skills were groomed by his parents. His father, Cliff, was once a member of Australia’s Davis Cup team and climbed to No. 52 in the ATP singles rankings.

In doubles, the elder Cliff Letcher was ranked in the top 20 and was a finalist at the Australian Open twice and the U.S. Open once.

The mother in the family, Cathy, was also a talented tennis player and was ranked No. 180 in the world by the WTA.

However, Letcher did not feel pressured to play the game while growing up in such a gifted tennis household.

“I played the game because I enjoy it and I love competing,” he said.

Clint Letcher has a younger brother, Chris, who he played with at ASU and a younger sister, Sophie, who plays tennis as well.

Letcher modeled his game after his father whom he idolized growing up and expressed his desire to volley like him. He admired the hard work professional Lleyton Hewitt put toward making his game better as well.

Letcher was rewarded by his hard work and had the chance to play in two Grand Slam Juniors at Wimbledon and the Australian Open after his ASU career was over. He was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in the junior doubles.

ASU coach Sheila McInerney approached Letcher about the assistant coaching position earlier this summer.

“I jumped at the opportunity to be a Sun Devil again,” he said.

Letcher said he has the utmost respect for McInerney and what she has done for the women’s program.

“I’m learning a lot from her,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing. We collaborate pretty well as a team at the moment.”

McInerney, who is in her 25th season at ASU, said she is excited to have Letcher on the staff. She said she believes that the opportunity to practice with someone as talented as Letcher on a daily basis will be very beneficial for her players.

McInerney said she is not concerned about having a first-time coach.

“He is confident in the information he relays to the girls,” she said. “He’s been around the game his whole life.”

Letcher said making the transition to the sideline has been seamless.

“I love coaching the sport I grew up playing,” he said. “I would love to be a head coach someday.”

Letcher said his focus is getting his players to reach their full potential after the success they had last year when they beat perennial powerhouse, Stanford, for the first time in 24 years.

“They played at the highest level,” he said. I just want them to play like that consistently.”

Reach the reporter at emschimm@asu.edu.