Rincon vs. Rincon Friday at the Schiff
By Daniel Sacerio
In his 11th season at the helm of the University of Miami men’s tennis program, head coach Mario Rincon has yet to face a challenge like the one he is going to see on Friday, Feb. 13. Rincon is not only going to coach his young Hurricane team in another match, but he is going to face off against his younger brother Eduardo Rincon, who is the head coach of Kennesaw State.
“He [Eduardo] is in his second year of being a head coach and we finally were able to put together this match,” said Mario.
Born to a father who loved the game of tennis, and founded his own tennis academy in the outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia, both Rincon brothers started playing tennis at a very young age. Soon the elder, Mario, began to succeed and compete across South America.
After finding success playing tennis in South America, Mario travelled to the United States and attended the University of Kentucky, competing at the Division I level. After graduating from Kentucky, Rincon spent nine years with the Association of Tennis Professionals and five more on the Japanese pro tour. Rincon made appearances at each of the four Grand Slam venues: the U.S. Open, French Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open. During the Japanese pro tour, at one point he was ranked No. 2 in singles.
Mario’s success on the pro tour had an enormous impact on his younger brother Eduardo.
“I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” said head coach Eduardo Rincon. “I looked up to Mario, I collected his newspaper clippings and I would wait by the television to hear his results.”
But before he knew it, Eduardo was starting his own tennis career and was off to the United States to attend Valdosta State. Upon finishing his collegiate career, Eduardo was a three-time All-American for the Blazers and would be on the pro tour. He would actually play and defeat his older brother on two occasions towards the end of his older brother’s playing career.
“While I have a couple of victories against him, he was a better player,” said Eduardo.
By the end of his playing career, the younger Rincon represented his home country of Colombia in the Davis Cup from 1997 to 2001 and held ATP rankings in both singles and doubles for seven years.
Both still inspired by their father’s coaching techniques, the Rincon brothers feel that life without tennis was never an option.
“We share the same passion for the game and now that we are both coaching at the collegiate level, it’s going to be a pleasure to play against my own brother,” said Mario.
While it is the first time for a Miami and Kennesaw State match up and the first time that the Rincon brothers will face each other, little has changed for the younger Eduardo who still sees his older bother as his biggest inspiration.
“Mario has had great teams over the years and is running a great program,” said Eduardo. “He has done it with a lot of class and ethics.”
The Canes will open play against Kennesaw State at 12 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 13 and will be back in action the following day against No. 48 Pepperdine on Feb. 14 at 12 p.m.
Stay up to date with the Canes on HurricaneSports.com. To interact with the UM men’s tennis team socially, follow @CanesMensTennis on Twitter and Instagram and like the team on Facebook.com/CanesMensTennis.
