Nice Tennis Academy

A boutique academy shaped by competition

Nice Tennis Academy is a small, selectively staffed program in the hills above Nice. It was founded by longtime coach Thierry Chochillon with a clear idea in mind: the most reliable way to improve a competitor is to shape every week around the player’s immediate needs. That sounds simple, but it is uncommon. Instead of squeezing athletes into fixed slots, the staff starts with the competition calendar, then works backward to design technical focus, physical load, and mental routines for the days ahead.

From the outset, intake has been kept intentionally low. Small groups are not a marketing device here; they are the operating system. The academy plans each athlete’s progression across blocks of training and tournaments, with clearly defined checkpoints. Video analysis is standard, match support is an expectation, and the conversation with families is practical and specific. The result is a compact program that behaves like a high-performance team rather than a large campus.

Where you train matters: Nice on the Côte d’Azur

Perched near the Saint-Antoine Ginestière area, the academy benefits from a Mediterranean climate that allows outdoor training for most of the year. For developing players, that consistency is invaluable. Fewer weather interruptions mean fewer resets, fewer rushed indoor sessions, and a smoother progression from technical work to match play. The coastline offers mild winters, bright, dry periods across spring and autumn, and enough warm days to maintain intensity during early-season blocks.

The location is practical as well as picturesque. Nice International Airport connects quickly to European hubs, which makes junior and open-division travel manageable. Within a short drive are tournaments on hard and clay in Saint-Laurent-du-Var, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Cannes, Antibes, and towns running into the Var. For a player building confidence, the density of events allows the staff to set two- or three-week sequences with targeted goals rather than training generically and hoping for form. The tennis culture in and around Nice is deep; historic clubs, a steady calendar, and a high standard of local play give young athletes frequent reference points.

Facilities: two bases, many surfaces

Nice Tennis Academy runs a split-base model that mirrors the variety of surfaces players face during a season. Day-to-day sessions often take place at a quiet club on the heights of Nice with five outdoor courts. Two are hard courts that keep the ball skidding and teach players to organize early contact. Three are synthetic grass, which changes pace and bounce inside the same training block. Switching surfaces midweek sharpens footwork decisions and timing.

For clay-heavy phases, the academy uses a partner club in Mandelieu-La Napoule, about 30 to 40 minutes down the coast. The site has five courts, four of them clay, and a calm setting ringed by the Estérel hills. Players also have access to a fitness space and a pool for low-impact recovery. The atmosphere is deliberately quiet and focused, ideal for block sessions ahead of a run of red-dirt events.

This dual-site approach is a quiet strength. It allows the staff to stage sessions that reflect the next tournament conditions. Before a sequence of fast courts, athletes will see more hard and synthetic grass. Before clay events, they will get long touches on the dirt to reinforce height, depth, and patience. The backs-and-forths are planned, not accidental, which is exactly how a competition-minded academy should operate.

Coaching staff and working philosophy

The academy is led by Thierry Chochillon, who coordinates the overall plan and directs on-court technical and tactical work. Sessions are kept small to protect quality. The staff sets clear individual objectives, films key patterns, and uses video to make corrections visible and measurable. That video habit is built into both technical changes and match reviews. Players learn to spot the difference between intention and execution, then track whether the change holds under pressure.

Physical preparation is treated as a core element. A specialist with experience preparing professional players runs dedicated strength and conditioning blocks, with a heavier emphasis from September to February to build robustness for a long competitive year. Movement quality, footwork discipline, and injury prevention are recurring themes. Education is part of the method: athletes are taught how to warm up efficiently, manage workloads across a tournament week, and recover after consecutive days of play.

On the mental side, the academy brings in former professional Jean-Michel Péquery as a targeted resource when needed. With experience on tour and later as a coach and mental specialist, Péquery supports players with match routines, stress and emotion management, and competitive behaviors. The goal is not motivational talk for its own sake but a practical skill set that shows up in habits: breathing, between-point routines, and decisions under scoreboard pressure.

Programs: small groups, clear objectives

The program menu is concise by design. Rather than dozens of tiers and names, the academy focuses on formats that it can deliver at a high standard.

• Training Center year-round: For nationally ranked juniors and ambitious seniors who want daily structure built around competition. Weekly schedules blend individual lessons, small-group drilling, set and point play, video sessions, and integrated physical training. The staff helps plan the player’s tournament calendar and provides coaching support on site during selected events.
• Tennis-Studies pathway: A track for students roughly 12 to 18 who balance school with serious tennis. Each week includes daily on-court work, supervised physical preparation, mental skills sessions, and planned competition with pre-match and post-match support. Housing is not dormitory style. Instead, the academy can arrange homestays with vetted local families, which often keeps the setting more personal and cost effective than large boarding campuses. Admission is selective to keep groups coherent by level and age.
• Competition stages: Seasonal short camps used to tune up before tournament runs or to focus on a specific theme. These blocks include test sets, objective-based drills, targeted fitness sessions, and video capture to compare patterns before and after the block.

Training and player development: how the work is sequenced

The academy’s method is systematic and patient. It treats development as a sequence of small, testable steps that accumulate over time.

• Technical: Video anchors change. Players see and feel the difference between old and new movement, then check the same markers one and two weeks later. On hard and synthetic grass, technical focus may emphasize early contact, compact swings on the first ball, and stable base. On clay, the staff highlights height, shape, and controlled acceleration through contact.
• Tactical: Sessions use constraints that mirror match problems. Serve plus one patterns are mapped out explicitly. Players work first-ball depth targets on clay and cross-line decision rules that prevent predictable patterns. Practice sets are recorded and reviewed with one or two themes to carry into the next event.
• Physical: Early-season blocks build capacity. In-season maintenance emphasizes strength endurance, reactive footwork, and soft-tissue care. Mobility work is non-negotiable, particularly for hips, thoracic spine, and ankles, which influence posture and balance under fatigue.
• Mental: The academy treats mental skills as behaviors players can practice. Between-point routines, breath control, and self-talk scripts are rehearsed during drills and sets. Post-match reviews address stress signals, emotion recognition, and decision-making when the score flips. Péquery’s sessions fold into this, reinforcing what the on-court coach asks for.
• Educational: Players are shown how to read draws, plan travel, and budget energy across a week. Parents receive concise updates tied to objectives rather than generic reports. The aim is a self-managing athlete who knows how to prepare, compete, and recover without drama.

A typical training week might include two individualized technical blocks, two small-group drilling sessions, two set play days, one tactical video review, three strength and conditioning sessions of varying intensity, and one active recovery session. Adjustments are made if a short-notice tournament opens or a player shows signs of overload. The calendar leads the plan, not the other way around.

The competitive pathway and the Riviera advantage

Few regions in Europe offer the same variety of accessible events as the Riviera corridor. Within an hour of Nice, players can line up a sequence of clay and hard tournaments without long travel days. The academy uses that density to build confidence through volume. The staff will often mark a two- or three-tournament stretch as a mini-cycle, then define clear intentions: first-serve percentage targets, return depth benchmarks, or a tactical rule such as attacking short crosscourt balls with conviction. Because the next event is close, feedback loops are short. Players test, review, adjust, and test again.

When families compare options across Europe, it can be useful to look at different models. Large-campus experiences with on-site boarding and extensive amenities are showcased in the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy profile. A clay-centric French option within driving distance is the HDN Academy in Nîmes. For players who often compete across the Italian Riviera and northern Italy, the Piatti Tennis Center overview offers a useful reference point. Nice Tennis Academy positions itself alongside these options as a smaller, competition-first environment that keeps focus on the weekly plan.

Culture and daily life

This is not a campus with hundreds of players. The atmosphere is compact and accountable. Coaches are present, feedback is regular, and athletes are expected to own their preparation. A typical day starts with a movement warm-up run by the physical coach, followed by an on-court block that blends specific constraints with live ball. Lunch breaks are used for short video reviews or schoolwork for Tennis-Studies students. Afternoon sessions mix situational play with serves and returns, then a strength, power, or mobility session depending on the day.

Homestay accommodation keeps the setting home-like rather than institutional. Younger athletes often settle faster in a family environment, and older players appreciate the quieter routine. The academy vets hosts, communicates expectations, and checks in regularly. Evenings are low-key: recovery work, school tasks, and light technical homework such as shadow swings with focus on balance or rhythm.

From the coaching side, culture is built on clarity and consistency. The staff does not flood players with cues. Instead, each athlete receives a handful of priorities and simple language to repeat under pressure. One of the common outcomes is a more stable competitor who avoids big highs and lows. The win-loss record still matters, but the daily behaviors that produce wins are emphasized as much as the result.

Costs, accessibility, and scholarships

Because the academy leverages partner clubs instead of a single large facility, costs can be managed through smart scheduling. Pricing is provided on request and varies by training volume, competition support, and housing. Families often appreciate transparent tournament budgeting, where travel, entry fees, and coaching presence are mapped in advance for a block of events. For Tennis-Studies athletes, school coordination and homestay arrangements are accounted for separately.

Financial support is occasionally available for candidates who meet performance or potential-based criteria. Scholarships or partial aid may align with available training slots and calendar windows, so early inquiries help. The academy’s small scale means offers are selective. Accessibility-wise, Nice International Airport and rail links simplify arrival and departures for seasonal camps and competition stages.

What sets it apart

• Real individualization: Small intake and a modular schedule make it easier to adjust when form or health changes week to week. The plan is live, not static.
• Surface variety in a single week: Faster courts in Nice and long clay blocks down the coast let the staff shape footwork and patterns to the upcoming calendar.
• Integrated mental and physical work: Mental routines and physical preparation are coached as central elements, not accessories. The academy treats them as behaviors that can be trained, tested, and retained.
• Tournament proximity: The Riviera circuit allows compact competition runs with short drives, efficient feedback loops, and minimal disruption to training rhythm.
• Calm, accountable culture: A small team environment reduces noise and keeps attention on the behaviors that translate to match play.

Alumni and outcomes

Nice Tennis Academy does not market celebrity rosters. Its typical profile is the serious junior or second-series competitor who needs structure, coaching attention, and a season built around their strengths and gaps. When the academy brings in Jean-Michel Péquery, players benefit from a tour-shaped perspective that connects daily habits to match outcomes.

Results are measured as trends, not one-off peaks. The staff looks for steadier performances across a month of tournaments, improved first-serve hold rates, better return depth under pressure, and fewer unforced errors in the first four shots of rallies. Parents often notice a more consistent competitor who recovers better between matches and handles momentum swings with fewer reactive choices.

Future outlook and vision

The academy’s model is intentionally lean. Do not expect a sprawling campus or a sudden expansion. The plan is to continue partnering with quality clubs for priority court access and to deepen the use of modern analysis tools. Expect more portable technology for court-side filming and instant feedback, as well as continued collaboration with specialists in strength, conditioning, and mental training.

On the competitive side, the staff will likely build more formalized mini-cycles around clusters of Riviera events, giving athletes predictable patterns of prepare, compete, review, and adjust. That predictability helps families plan budgets and helps players understand how to manage energy and expectations across a season.

Is it for you

Choose Nice Tennis Academy if you want a hands-on plan in a calm environment, with coaches who set clear objectives, film your work, and stand with you courtside during competition. It fits juniors and late starters who already compete and need tighter technical control, stronger movement, and repeatable mental routines.

If you are looking for a large campus with dorms, pools, and an on-site school, this is not that. For athletes who prefer a smaller team that organizes the season, adapts training around the next events, and uses two complementary venues to prepare for the surfaces they will actually face, it is worth serious consideration.

In short, Nice Tennis Academy offers a focused path: a coach-built plan, consistent surfaces that match the calendar, and the steady, unglamorous work that makes better competitors. For players who value clarity over spectacle, it is a compelling choice on the Côte d’Azur.