Bryan teaches at ‘Little Mo’ tennis tournament

Wayne Bryan has a low, booming voice that demands attention, and a microphone only aided that cause Friday afternoon at The Tennis Club Newport Beach.

Bryan, the father and coach of tennis doubles stars Mike and Bob Bryan, was on hand to conduct a clinic prior to the opening ceremonies for the “Little Mo” International tennis tournament. The 90-minute clinic took up eight courts at The Tennis Club, and featured drills that the kids seemed to enjoy.

Bryan’s sons are the most successful tennis duo in history and have 113 doubles tournament titles, including 16 men’s doubles Grand Slams. The Bryan brothers begin play at Wimbledon next week.

The elder Bryan was happy to be there to help kick off the “Little Mo,” which is being held in Orange County for the first time. He said Maureen “Little Mo” Connolly Brinker was the one who inspired Bryan’s wife, Kathy, a former pro player herself, to begin playing. Connolly Brinker, the tournament’s inspiration who is still the only American woman to win the calendar year Grand Slam in 1953, passed away of cancer in 1969 at the age of 34.

“Here I am out here doing a ‘Little Mo’ clinic for a woman that got my kids going, inspired my wife,” Wayne Bryan said. “It’s a beautiful poetic circle. I definitely saw future pro players in this [clinic], saw future D1 college players. These kids are 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and their level is incredible. Not one problem child, and all of the parents were saying the right things, very positive. I love the ‘Little Mo’ tournaments.

“They really specialize in the young kids, and what you do from jump street is always the most important, whether it’s rodeo, drums, guitar, piano, golf, tennis. The more you can get them in and get that hook in, that happens to be very crucial in my opinion. So I think this is a wonderful program.”

The tournament boasts around 170 players, from 17 different countries. Play gets underway Saturday morning and continues through July 4. The format is best-of-three in singles, with a 10-point tiebreaker in lieu of a full third set. In doubles, teams will play eight-game pro sets.

Ryan Honary, 9, of Newport Beach, hopes to have success at the “Little Mo.” Honary, who trains at The Tennis Club, recently won the consolation title in the boys’ 10s at the Southern California Junior Sectionals. He said he played an opponent from Peru a couple of months ago in a United States Tennis Assn. tournament, but all of the international competition in the “Little Mo” presents a unique opportunity.

“It’s probably going to be really fun and challenging,” Honary said. “I just want to win.”

After the clinic on Friday, the players took part in an opening ceremony, in which players paraded with their country flags onto the stadium court.

“It’s exciting,” said Prisha Rapur of Irvine, 12, who also trains at The Tennis Club. “I haven’t played a lot of tournaments, so this is definitely different than what I’ve played before. I’ve never had an opening ceremony for a tournament before. It’s just usually getting there, playing and leaving … and you can experience people from all over the world, basically.”

The players heard speeches from Connolly Brinker’s daughter, Cindy Brinker Simmons, as well as tournament chairwoman Carol Weyman.

As for Bryan, he encouraged the parents to stay supportive, regardless of whether their child wins or loses a match. It’s a strategy that has seemed to work well for him.

“You can only say three things after a match,” Bryan said. “Do you want a water or a Gatorade; what kind of restaurant do you want to go to; and the third thing: do you want to drive or do you want me to drive? If they’re under 16, you’ve only got two questions. Don’t critique these wonderful little guys and gals.”

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo