Seeking to defend the Austria Cup that the USA team won last year in Turkey, the United States Tennis Association has selected Great Neck tennis professional and mental training coach Bob Litwin as a member of the 2004 squad. The USA will compete in this year's Austria Cup international tennis competition for 55 and over in Philadelphia Sept. 13-18. The competition is the senior version of Davis Cup. Many of the world's top senior players will be competing on the grass at the legendary Philadelphia Cricket Club to determine the world team champions.

Litwin is not new to international competition. In 2002 he was a finalist in the world champions. This is the fourth time in the last five years that he has been selected to play for the USA. Ranked #2 in the country, he will be joined on the squad by Brian Cheney, Arizona; Charles Hoeveler, California; and Peter Bronson, Arizona. Cheney, Litwin and Bronson were all members of the World Championship team in 2000. Players are selected on the basis of national ranking and competency on the playing surface. Litwin has tremendous success on the grass, winning five National championships on the surface. Last September he won both the singles and doubles Nationals without losing a set.

In addition to competitive play, he is a USTA high performance coach who teaches in Great Neck and is president of the Sports Focus Institute (aka FocusTips.com) He started playing tennis in Great Neck and played for Great Neck South in the 1960s.