Coach Profile
Camp Director
Sasha Gozun
Sasha Gozun is in his fifth season with the Furman men's tennis program and second as associate head coach.
The Paladins reached their 10th consecutive SoCon tournament semifinals in 2022-23 after defeating fourth-seeded Samford 4-1. Furman finished the year with an 11-14 overall record and went 4-3 in the league. The Paladins compiled an 8-4 record at Mickel Tennis Center and concluded the regular season with three straight SoCon wins over The Citadel, Mercer, and Wofford. For the second straight year, Furman boasted the SoCon Freshman of the Year in Jerry Barton, who led the team with 13 singles victories and combined with Elijah Poritzky for a team high 10 doubles wins. Barton was a first team All-SoCon pick for singles and garnered SoCon All-Freshman Team accolades along with Thomas Kennedy. Emil Westling was also named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
Seven Paladins claimed ITA Scholar-Athlete citations for the 2022-23 season. Furman was honored as an ITA All-Academic Team for the fourth straight year with Gozun assisting the Paladins.
Furman concluded the 2021-22 season with a 15-9 overall record and 6-1 SoCon mark. The Paladins, who recorded key non-conference victories over Belmont, Georgia State, and Richmond, reached the semifinals of the SoCon tournament, and graduate student Drew Singerman, a College Sports Communicators Academic All-American, was honored with the league’s Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award. Jamie Connel, the SoCon Freshman of the Year, was named to first team All-SoCon for both singles and doubles, and graduate student Ivan Mitric earned a spot on the All-SoCon first team for doubles and second team for singles. Poritzky and Connel were named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team.
In Gozun's second year on staff, Furman concluded went 10-12 overall record and had a 5-2 SoCon mark in 2020-21. The Paladins made their third straight appearance in the league title match and reached the finals for the sixth time in the last seven championships. Mitric was named to first team All-SoCon for singles, while Jake Bhangdia and Henrik Atlevi earned first team selections for doubles. Bhangdia and Atlevi were also honored as members of the All-SoCon second team for singles, and Westling claimed a spot on the SoCon All-Freshman team.
Singerman was selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team in the spring of 2021. The Paladins were honored as an ITA All-Academic Team, and eight Furman players were tabbed as 2020-21 ITA Scholar-Athletes.
During the shortened 2019-20 season, Furman went 10-5 overall record and 2-0 in the SoCon. The Paladins were a perfect 8-0 at home in Gozun's first year on the Furman staff, and the doubles duo of Bhangdia and Jake Munns concluded the fall season ranked tenth nationally in doubles after finishing as runner up at the ITA Carolinas Regional.
Gozun came to Furman from Campbell, where he served as an assistant coach for one season. He helped lead the Camels to a 16-6 record in 2018 and a share of the Big South championship. Under his tutelage, Campbell reached the 2018 Big South Championship finals.
Prior to his time at Campbell, Gozun was a tennis professional at the Tucker Tennis Academy, where he mentored and provided guidance to high-ranking athletes and developed and implemented training regimens for various athletes. Gozun has coached some of the top juniors in the nation, including three players ranked among the country's top 15.
A native of Orhei, Republic of Moldova, Gozun relocated to Sarasota, Fla., at the age of 12. He was a four-year letter-winner at South Florida from 2013-17, where he achieved an ITA national ranking of 36th as a senior. The 2017 AAC Player of the Year, Gozun reached the NCAA Sweet 16 as a sophomore and the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship as a senior. He teamed with Roberto Cid in doubles, and the duo was ranked sixth nationally in 2015 and won the Bedford Cup Doubles Championship in 2014. Gozun won four ITF Future Doubles titles in 2017 and 2018.
A 2017 graduate of South Florida with a degree in communications, Gozun and his wife, the former Anna Alsup Gozun of Austin, Texas, are parents to two sons, Oliver and Owen.