Pedroso Named Director of Tennis and Head Men's Coach
May 24, 2017
Charlottesville, Va. – Virginia director of athletics Craig Littlepage announced Wednesday (May 24) that Andres Pedroso has been named the Cavaliers’ director of tennis and head men’s tennis coach. Pedroso, UVA’s men’s tennis associate head coach from 2010-14, will oversee both the men’s and women’s tennis programs while also serving as the head coach of Virginia men’s tennis.
“We are thrilled to welcome Andres and his family back to Charlottesville,” Littlepage said. “His background as an elite player in junior, college, and professional tennis, along with his experience as our men’s tennis associate head coach and as a coach in the professional ranks and with the USTA have prepared him for this opportunity.
“Andres believes academic achievement and taking advantage of all of the opportunities the University has to offer are equally important to success on the court. I look forward to the on-going development of both programs under his leadership.”
Pedroso will replace Brian Boland as head men’s tennis coach at Virginia. The United States Tennis Association announced on March 29 the hiring of Boland as the head of men’s tennis for USTA Player Development. In 16 seasons under Boland’s direction, the Cavaliers won four NCAA championships and 12 ACC championships.
During Pedroso’s four-year coaching career at Virginia, the Cavaliers won four ACC championships, the program’s first NCAA championship and two ITA National Team Indoor titles (2011 and 2013). Pedroso coached six All-Americans during this time, including 2013 ITA National Player of the Year Jarmere Jenkins, the 2013 NCAA Doubles Champion team of Jenkins and Mac Styslinger and ITA All-American champions Alex Domijan and Mitchell Frank. Pedroso was named the 2014 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year and he was twice honored as the ITA Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year (2012 and 2014).
“I would like to thank President Sullivan, Craig Littlepage and Jon Oliver for this once in a lifetime opportunity to lead UVA Tennis and succeed one of the greatest collegiate coaches of all time in Brian Boland,” Pedroso said. “Coach Boland started setting me up for success at the University of Virginia seven years ago, during my time as associate head coach. Moving forward, my intention is to only enhance, together with the entire UVA Tennis coaching staff, the world-class experience that our University and tennis program provide our student-athletes.
“Nothing will be more important than the overall development of our men’s and women’s student-athletes and maximizing their potential will continue to take a total team effort on the part of many who believe in our cause. UVA Tennis has always been based on building a community of quality people around a student-athlete experience that produces exceptional leaders and human beings. This will never change and I look forward to reaching out to every person who has or will make UVA Tennis an integral part of their life.”
“The University of Virginia could not be placing this program in better hands than with Andres Pedroso,” Boland said. “Andres understands our culture and he played a significant role in getting our program over the top to win repeated national championships. Andres brings to the job a wealth of experience and a skill set that I believe provides UVA Tennis with everything we could ask for in a leader.
“I am excited for our players, our athletics department and all of our loyal supporters that they will have the opportunity to work with such a world-class individual and someone who loves the University of Virginia as much as I do.”
As the director of tennis, Pedroso will be charged with oversight of both programs while serving as the head coach of the men’s tennis program. Several top-ranked tennis programs have successfully implemented the Director of Tennis model. This model will enable the UVA men’s and women’s programs to collaborate and make the best use of all available resources while sharing a joint vision for success that meets the goals set by the Virginia athletics department.
As a student-athlete at Duke, Pedroso helped lead the Blue Devils to four ACC titles, he was a two-time All-American and he was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Team. Over eight seasons, as a player at Duke and a coach at Virginia, Pedroso has not lost a team match against a conference opponent.
Following his college career at Duke, Pedroso played professionally for four years, reaching career-high rankings of No. 271 in singles and No. 255 in doubles. During his pro career, he won four singles titles and two doubles titles on the Futures Tour and a doubles title on the Challenger Tour.
Pedroso first came to Virginia after serving as a national coach for USTA Player Development. During his time with the USTA, he was responsible for the development of the top male American junior players born in 1995. He also worked periodically with several top American professional players, including Sam Querrey, Mardy Fish, Jesse Levine and Ryan Harrison.
Since leaving Charlottesville in 2014, Pedroso has coached privately in South Florida.
Pedroso will work with Virginia’s administration to hire the head women’s tennis coach and the assistant coaches of both programs. He will begin his duties as UVA director of tennis and head men’s tennis coach on May 30.