Men's Tennis Announces the Addition of Kareem Allaf as Assistant Coach

ORLANDO – The UCF men’s tennis program has announced the addition of Kareem Allaf as an assistant coach ahead of the 2023-2024 season, head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess announced Thursday.

 

Allaf, who played five seasons at the University of Iowa from 2016-21, he owns the program record in singles and doubles victories with 164 combined triumphs. Additionally, Allaf represented the Syrian National Team at the Davis Cup, and he will reunite with his former coach in Orlando following a year stint as a volunteer assistant at Mississippi State.

Prior to Allaf’s announcement, the Iowa graduate had been playing on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour, most recently at the M15 Champaign alongside A.J. Catanzariti. Allaf holds a career-high ATP doubles rank of 704, attained this August following a run to the semifinals at the M25 Southaven. In July, Allaf advanced to the doubles finals at the M25 Edwardsville following a quarterfinal victory over former Knight Trey Hilderbrand and Noah Schachter. In singles, Allaf rose to as high as No. 751 in May of this year.

 

As Bruce-Burgess embarks on his first season as a collegiate head coach, Allaf will serve as a familiar companion, with the two having previously spent time together with the Hawkeyes from 2020-21. At Iowa, Allaf consistently grew into one of the nation’s top players, earning three All-Big Ten honors, with his second consecutive first-team selection garnered while Bruce-Burgess was serving as an assistant coach. His 2021 dual-match season engraved Allaf into the record books, as the Syrian native recorded 10 singles wins on court one including three triumphs over ranked opponents. A remarkable 95 career singles and 69 career doubles wins, which rank second and third in school history in each category, respectively.

During his collegiate career, Allaf tallied 12 career singles victories over ranked opponents. His 22 doubles victories as a sophomore in 2018 remain third on Iowa’s single-season wins list, while 23 singles victories during his freshman campaign in 2017 tie for the 11th most in a single season in the program's history.

 

In 2018, Allaf became the third player in program history to win the ITA Central Regional Singles Championship following victories over No. 39 and No. 45 ranked opposition. A year later, Allaf won four straight singles matches at the ITA Central Regionals to qualify for the national event, going on to defeat two nationally-ranked opponents to qualify for the ITA Main Draw, becoming just the second Hawkeye to accomplish the feat.

 

During the 2019 Davis Cup, Allaf led the Syrian National Team through a strong group stage performance. With victories on court two over opponents from Qatar, Malaysia and Iran, Allaf was vital in one of the most successful competitions in the nation's history. 

 

Allaf graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Enterprise Leadership and a minor in communications before securing his masters in sports and recreational management.