Greystone Tennis Director Kristijan Mitrovski: Journey to the Hall of Fame

When the nomination letters arrived for the Alabama Tennis Foundation Hall of Fame, Kristijan Mitrovski read them with quiet astonishment. For more than two decades, he had simply gone about his work at Greystone Golf & Country Club, helping build the sport of tennis in Alabama.

"You go through the days, the months, the years. You love the sport, you do everything you can, but you never realize that's how it's been seen from others," Mitrovski says.

On February 7, 2026, Mitrovski was inducted into the Alabama Tennis Foundation Hall of Fame at The Country Club of Birmingham. For a student athlete who journeyed from Macedonia in 2003 to play college tennis at UAB, the recognition feels surreal and meaningful.

The Weight of Words

The nomination revealed the breadth of his influence. Former students from 2008, now adults with families, reached out. Parents. College athletes. Members spanning generations.

"You don't realize how many people you've reached through 20 years," he reflects.

A plaque in his office, from a former student, captures it: "An excellent coach impacts more young people in a year than the average person does in a lifetime."

A Life Shaped by Tennis

During the induction ceremony, Jay Weinacker, Director of Racquet Sports at Country Club of Birmingham, painted a picture of a coach whose impact extends far beyond the court. But first, he told the story of how it all began.

At age 10, Mitrovski started playing tennis with school friends and their P.E. coach in Skopje, Macedonia. For two years, his parents didn't even know he was playing. He'd spend countless hours hitting against a concrete wall behind the school, always making it home just in time for dinner. His love for tennis was entirely his own.

At 12, he entered his first tournament, a Masters event against some of Macedonia's best juniors. His parents still didn't know he was playing, so he rode his bike to and from his matches. Between the semifinals and finals, he fell off his bike and scraped his knee badly. Unable to ride, he finally told his father about the tournament and asked for a ride to the finals. His father obliged, watched Kristijan win his first tournament, and from that moment forward, helped him pursue his passion.

That pure love for the game, Weinacker noted, has defined his coaching philosophy ever since.

The ceremony also revealed the profound depth of relationships Mitrovski builds with his students and their families. One family, so touched by his mentorship of their son, asked him to be a groomsman at the young man's wedding. When tragedy struck and that same family lost their son, they asked Kristijan to be a pallbearer at the funeral. He had transcended his role as coach to become close like family.

"Kristijan has helped to shape many juniors' lives,” Weinacker told the audience at the ceremony. “By teaching them not only to be great tennis players, but great people as well."

Character Built One Match at a Time

For Mitrovski, tennis teaches problem-solving under pressure. There are no timeouts, no substitutions, and no calling for the coach when the opponent takes the lead.

"It's constantly trying to solve what the opponent is presenting to you," he explains. "Who's going to be the one solving the problem versus creating it?"

He's especially moved when his students carry those lessons beyond the baseline. One graduated from the Air Force Academy. Another was committed to the Navy. Watching them compete in Orlando two years ago brought particular pride.

"They say foreigners are just coming for free education," Mitrovski says. "Fast forward 20 years, I've coached between 12 and 15 kids who played college tennis. To witness my students play for the United States AirForce Academy and the United States Naval Academy? That's amazing."

Fifteen Years at Greystone

Mitrovski's path to Greystone took him through Seaside, four years in Huntsville, and six months traveling Europe's professional circuit. His girlfriend, now wife, brought him back to Birmingham in 2011.

"It's year 15 here, and it feels like I started last week," he says. "We have new players coming in constantly."

Under General Manager Dave Porter's leadership, Greystone has become one of Birmingham's premier racquet sports destinations. The renovated center features 10 clay courts and 2 hard courts. Four pickleball courts opened two years ago. The club hosts Tuesday clinics and the popular "Wimbledon on the Range” event, a throwback affair with a nod to Wimbledon, where members don all-white attire and play with their racquets on grass courts.

Member Mary Kay Greer joined because of the tennis program and Mitrovski's reputation. "He's genuine. If you want to play tennis, he's going to find you a team," Greer says. "He makes me want to keep coming back."

A Sport for Life

Every Tuesday morning, Mitrovski watches a group with a wealth of experience take the courts with unfailing dedication. Rain or shine, they're there. The youngest gentleman is 85. One played for Ole Miss in the 1950s.

"Tell me another sport where somebody can do it for 70 years," Mitrovski beams. "It's incredible."

That's what draws him to tennis. The sport offers a lifetime of challenge, community, and growth. For Mitrovski, watching students discover what they're capable of makes every day worth celebrating.
And with the recent Hall of Fame honors, he remains humble, seeing it as validation of something much larger: the power of a sport to transform lives across decades.

"The relationships and the connections through the years," he says. "That's what's most amazing."