ORLANDO, Fla.-- UCF director of tennis and head men's tennis coach John Roddick recently signed a contract extension that will keep him at the helm through the 2024-25 season. His extension began with the 2020-21 campaign—coming off a Covid-shortened spring 2020 season in which the Knights opened 10-3 (best start in program history) and saw Gabriel Decamps become the first singles All-American in program history while reaching No. 7 in singles rankings.
"I'm very excited about the future of UCF tennis and UCF athletics," Roddick says, "I'm grateful to (vice president and director of athletics) Terry Mohajir for the opportunity to continue to lead UCF tennis. Our future is bright."
The 2021 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Roddick has continued to raise the bar for UCF men's tennis.
Since Roddick took control of the program in the 2016-17 season, the Knights have made three trips to the NCAA Championship, including the team's first victory in 2021. In conference play, Roddick guided UCF to its first conference championship as part of The American in 2021.
The Knights also have earned three NCAA Championship singles berths with a quarterfinal appearance, three NCAA doubles berths, five All-Americans and one AAC Player of the Year under Roddick's guidance. Additionally, he has coached nine all-conference selections in his time at UCF.
Last season, Roddick led the Knights to their most successful season yet as the team posted a 22-4 record, which is the highest win total achieved for UCF as a division I program. The Knights won its first American conference title and won its first NCAA Championship match, leading them into the second round. Roddick also guided UCF to its highest ranking in program history, bursting into the top 10 at No. 9. All that came after the abbreviated 2020 spring campaign.
In Roddick's first season at the helm in 2017, the Knights made their first appearance in the NCAA Championship since 2005 and Korey Lovett became the first players in program history to earn a berth in the NCAA Championship singles bracket.
Roddick's student-athletes have also excelled in the classroom as 10 players have been named ITA Scholar-Athletes for a total of 16 times in his five years.
The Knights have geared up for another special season in 2021-22 as UCF returns two All-Americans, Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel.
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