Santos Returns as W. Tennis Associate Head Coach
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami head women’s tennis head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews announced Tuesday the hiring of Alex Santos.
For Santos, who will serve as associate head coach, this will be his second stint at Miami; he previously worked for Yaroshuk-Tews from 2009-13. Santos earned ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year recognition in his final season, before departing to become the head coach at Pittsburgh.
“I couldn’t be happier to welcome Alex Santos back to the University of Miami women’s tennis program,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “His attention to detail and work ethic are undoubtedly among the best in the country. He is a proven recruiter and our collective goals are to get this program back to national championship contention. Alex will be committed to this program and its success from day one and won’t stop until our job is complete.”
Santos served as Miami’s volunteer assistant in 2009-10 and as a graduate manager in the fall of 2010 before being elevated to a full-time assistant coaching position in the spring of 2011.
During his four years at Miami, Santos helped the Hurricanes to an 85-24 record that included a 36-8 ledger in ACC play and a 50-5 mark at home. The 85 victories are tied for the sixth-most in any four-year span in program history, with two of the five higher marks featuring three of Santos’ seasons.
The Hurricanes not only won 20-plus matches in all four of Santos’ seasons with the team, but reached the NCAA Elite Eight and finished in the ITA top 10 all four times. Their peak year-end ranking came in 2011 with a seventh-place finish. In 2013, Santos also aided Miami to the program’s first ACC Championship title.
“It is with great enthusiasm that I join coach Yaroshuk-Tews and Hurricane nation,” Santos said. “I look forward to helping advance the Miami women’s tennis program and making a positive impact in the development of our student-athletes. I would like to thank Blake James, Carter Toole and Paige Yaroshuk-Tews for the opportunity.”
Santos left Miami after the 2013 campaign to become the head coach at Pittsburgh. He served in that capacity for six years, leading the Panthers to their first win over a ranked foe and guiding the program’s first players to earn ITA singles and doubles rankings.
Off the court, Pittsburgh posted four consecutive perfect 1,000 Academic Progress Report (APR) scores during his tenure.
In August 2019, Santos accepted a position as the associate head coach at Baylor. In his lone spring with the Bears, he helped lead the team to a 10-2 mark during the abbreviated 2020 campaign.
A native of Oeiras, Portugal, Santos was one of the top-ranked junior players in his homeland. He graduated from Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa in 2005. He has experience working at tennis academies in both Portugal and Spain.
To keep up with the University of Miami women’s tennis team on social media, follow @CanesWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
