USTA PLAYER DEVELOPMENT NAMES MARK MERKLEIN NATIONAL COACH
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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., February 8, 2006 – The USTA today announced that Mark Merklein of Coral Springs, Fla., has been named USTA National Coach. Merklein joins the men’s coaching staff, and will work primarily with 16-year-olds and will be based at the USTA Player Development Headquarters in Key Biscayne, Fla. Merklein replaces David DiLucia, who left the USTA to become Lindsay Davenport’s coach. Prior to joining the USTA, Mark served as assistant coach at the University of Florida and coached touring pro Jeff Morrison.
Merklein, 33, retired as a pro player in 2005 after a 12-year career that included four ATP doubles titles and a career-high doubles ranking of No. 35 in 2004. He reached the doubles quarterfinals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics (w/ Mark Knowles). Prior to 2005, Merklein had held the all-time record for most victories on the USTA Pro Circuit with 25 (11 singles, 14 doubles). He was passed in November by Paul Goldstein. Merklein still holds the record for most USTA Pro Circuit singles titles without losing in a final (11-0).
In college, Merklein was a four-time All-American at the University of Florida (1990-94) and won both the NCAA singles and doubles titles, defeating Wayne Black of Southern California in the 1994 NCAA singles final and capturing the 1993 NCAA doubles title (w/David Blair). At the junior level, Merklein captured the 1988 USTA Boys’ 16s national title. In 1989, he won doubles titles at the Orange Bowl 18s and the USTA Boys’ 18s National Clay Courts.
USTA Player Development is charged with providing American junior, collegiate and young professional players with the opportunities to reach their maximum potential.
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The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. It owns and operates the US Open, the largest annually attended sporting event in the world and launched the US Open Series which links 10 summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns the 94 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S., and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. A not-for-profit organization with more than 665,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, from the grassroots to the professional levels. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com.
For more information, contact:
Jeff Heckelman, Publicity Coordinator, Professional Tennis, USTA
(914) 696-7260; heckelman@usta.com