Robbie Weiss

Alabama men's tennis head coach George Husack announced back in August of 2016, the hiring of Robbie Weiss as the program's new assistant coach. Weiss replaces Ryler DeHeart, who recently accepted the associate head coach position at Florida State.

"I am extremely grateful and excited about the addition of Robbie Weiss to our coaching staff," said Husack. "I have known about his playing career for years, but it became very clear when we first met that Robbie had incredible energy, enthusiasm and a strong desire to coach. He was a tenacious competitor with proven success and he wants to share this knowledge and experience with student-athletes. It's not often that you can coach alongside someone that has won a junior Grand Slam, an NCAA singles national championship, an ATP tour level event and defeated a world No. 1, let alone four of them. Robbie will make an immediate impact to our program in several different areas that we will all benefit from."

Weiss has a tremendous amount of quality playing experience to offer, as he had a successful eight year (1988-95) professional career achieving singles ranks as high as No. 85 in the world. He claimed one title in his professional career winning the 1990 ATP World Tour 250 Series event in Sao Paulo, Brazil, defeating Jamie Yzaga in the finals. Weiss won three ATP Challenger singles events in Granby, Palm Springs, and Itu. He finished runner-up in four ATP Challenger singles events in Seattle, Aptos, Martinique and Cincinnati. The talented pro made it to the semifinals of the ATP World Tour 250 Series event in Oahu, Hawaii, and he reached the quarter-finals of the ATP World Tour 250 events in Jakarta, Rosmalen, Newport, Durban and Brisbane. Throughout his career Weiss defeated four players that were ranked No. 1 in the world at the time; Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl and Patrick Rafter.

"I am super excited to get back into coaching college tennis," said Weiss. "It has been eight years since I have coached, and Alabama was my top choice of all the schools in the country. My wife graduated from Alabama, so we are huge Alabama fans. I don't think I have missed an Alabama football game in 10 years, and our whole house is decked out in Crimson Tide stuff. Alabama is truly a passion and love for my wife and I. It's a dream to be hired by George, and I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the program and The University of Alabama. Many people didn't give me a chance, so I am just really thankful for George believing in me. I am really excited to help elevate the program in any way that I can, and I am ready to start working with some of the new student-athletes coming in. It's my goal to help get the program into the top 10 in the country, and I will do everything in my power to help them."

He played all four years at Pepperdine (1985-88), where he was a college standout. On May 21, 2008, Weiss was inducted into the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame, and later that same year he was elected into the Pepperdine University Hall of Fame. Weiss's senior year he won the NCAA singles championship. He earned All-America honors in 1986 and 1988, and he was named the ITA National Player of the Year for his outstanding performance in the 1988 season. The Hall of Famer compiled an astounding 55-2 singles mark his senior year, while maintaining a No. 1 ranking in singles play all season long.

Weiss was a member of the USTA Junior Davis Cup Team from 1984-86, and he won 13 national junior championships and finished runner-up in 12 national junior events. In 1984 he captured the 1984 Wimbledon Juniors doubles title with partner Ricky Brown.

Weiss has coached at three different universities, and he served as an assistant at two of them and head coach at the other. He was the men's tennis assistant coach at Pepperdine University for the 1997 season, before he went on to be the men's tennis assistant coach at Georgia Tech for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. From 2002-04 Weiss functioned as the Director of Tennis at Olde Towne Athletic Club in Marietta, Ga., and from 2004-06 he acted as the Director of Tennis at Laurel Springs Tennis Club in Suwanee, Ga. After six years, Weiss returned to the collegiate level as the women's tennis head coach at Cornell University from 2007-08.

Robbie is married to Linda Lombard Weiss. He has two stepdaughters in Jennifer Regan, 21, and Hannah Regan, 18.

"Robbie's wife Linda is an Alabama graduate so the passion and love for the Crimson Tide is already there," said Husack. "We all know what a special place The University of Alabama is, and our athletic department is second to none. We welcome Robbie, Linda and their family to the Capstone."

What Others Are Saying About Robbie Weiss:

"When Robbie was down at Pepperdine he did such a great job for them. I have such a tremendous amount of respect for him on the court for the way he competed and his relationships with his coach and teammates. I just can't say enough about him and how that is such a great hire by Alabama. It will be a parents dream to have their kid work under his guidance. Alabama could not have done better with the hire." – Dick Gould (Former Stanford Coach of 34 Years)

"Robbie was one of the best college tennis players of all time, as you can tell from his record. His senior year he played the No. 1 position for us, and he only lost two matches all year and that was with the no add system which is very tough. He won the NCAA singles championship his senior year. Robbie was very easy to coach because he is one of the nicest and gentle human beings that I have ever met. I think that he will be really good at coaching because he is really smart and highly intelligent. Robbie is very knowledgeable about the game, and he is a very likable person. He has all the traits he needs, so he will be an excellent coach. Robbie will do a great job, and Alabama is lucky to have someone of his quality." – Allen Fox (Weiss' Coach at Pepperdine)

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