August 06, 2015

Cal Head Men’s Tennis Coach Peter Wright Inducted into USTA NorCal Hall of Fame

Nike Tennis Camps congratulates Cal Head Men's Tennis Coach, Peter Wright, on his induction into the USTA Northern California Hall of Fame!  Peter Wright has been the face of the University of California Golden Bears as the head coach of the men’s tennis team for 23 seasons, amassing numerous accomplishments and accolades during his tenure at Cal Berkeley.

Published on USTA NORCAL website:

The USTA Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the Class of 2015. They are Bill Jacobson, an innovator of tennis statistics technology;  Marianne Werdel, an NCAA Champion and accomplished WTA player; Matt Mitchell, a Stanford All-American, NCAA Champion and ATP title-holder; Peter Wright, a higly-respected collegiate coach, former Davis Cup player and captain, and former ATP player; Wayne Ferreira, a highly-decorated ATP player and Olympic silver-medalist.

The 2015 USTA Northern Californa Tennis Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Brunch will be held on Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. at Stanford University, during the Bank of the West Classic. Registration for the ceremony will be open on June 1, 2015.

PETER WRIGHT:
Peter Wright has been the face of the University of California Golden Bears as the head coach of the men’s tennis team for 23 seasons, amassing numerous accomplishments and accolades during his tenure at Cal Berkeley.

Peter might seem right at home in Berkeley, but that’s because that is exactly where he is…home! Born and raised in Berkeley, Peter learned to play tennis on the public courts at Live Oak Park. What began as a way for him to avoid taking piano lessons, quickly grew into a passion. His tennis led him to junior tournaments, the Berkeley High School tennis team, a top-10 ranking in the NorCal boys 18s, giving him the confidence to walk on to the Cal team his freshman year as he began his engineering studies at the university.

His progress continued at a rapid pace, for which he credits his coaches, both in high school and college, including Doug King a former Cal #1 player and #1 men’s open player in Northern California, who was a disciple of the legendary Tom Stowe, and Cal Head Coach Bill Wright, an NCAA Coach of the Year and ITA Hall of Fame member.

He earned his first ATP point the summer after his freshman year at Cal, and slowly worked his way up the lineup, eventually earning a scholarship and playing #1 singles in his senior year.  After college, he continued to hone his skills and moved onto the pro tour, racking up ATP points. A good friend from Denmark suggested that he should play Davis Cup for Ireland since both of his parents hailed from there. The Irish Tennis Federation was on board and he played on the Irish Davis Cup team for seven years while also continuing on the pro circuit. He then moved on to captain the Irish Davis Cup team for another eight years and also had the honor of serving as head coach for the Irish tennis team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, which he considers one of the high points of his career. Other professional highlights included appearances at Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

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During his time in Ireland, Peter met his wife, Fionnuala, a former Irish national tennis champion and a former member of the Irish national basketball team, and they now have three children, Thomas (16), Carly (13) and Michael (12).

Peter based himself in Berkeley, and when he had breaks from his time on the tour and from Davis Cup duties, he practiced with the Cal players and helped Scott McCain coach the team.  This was where he learned how to coach and teach at the collegiate level. When the head coaching position at Cal opened up in 1992 and Peter was offered the prestigious post at his alma mater, he seized the opportunity.

The rest is history, and so far the history for Peter as head coach at Cal Berkeley has been remarkable.

As only the ninth coach in the 118-year history of Cal tennis, Peter is the winningest coach of the program. He received his first coaching award in 1994 when he was named Wilson/ITA Regional Coach of the Year and earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors in 1997 and 2001.

He’s qualified his team for the NCAA Championships 22 out of 23 years, had 11 Cal players combine to receive 15 ITA All-America selections and coached a number of tour players, including Conor Niland, John Paul Fruttero and Pedro Zerbini.

Peter has served as Chairman of the NCAA Tennis Committee, and Vice President of Youth Tennis Advantage (YTA), and along with Doug King created the long-running Napa Valley Tennis Classic at Meadowood where elite USTA juniors compete against top college players.

When asked about his favorite memories, Peter doesn’t pick a win on the circuit or even a specific player or event. He has cherished the opportunity and responsibility to coach and mentor many players over the years, working closely with each as they start college as teenagers, and watching them grow into men and seeing where life takes them.

Peter’s also understandably proud of the recently-completed tennis facility renovation at Cal, which took 15 years to achieve. The facility now includes locker rooms and showers for players and visiting teams as well as an academic team room for player use and for Bear Trax, an after-school program Peter created which brings YTA children from Oakland to the Berkeley campus for academic tutoring with Cal students and tennis instruction with the Golden Bear men's and women's teams.

For now, Peter is happy right where he is, as head coach of the Cal Bears Men’s Tennis Team.  “As college coaches, we have the best jobs in tennis on the planet,” he said. “Coaching at Cal has given me the opportunity to grow, be creative and to work with amazing people on a daily basis. I’m incredibly grateful to be able to be in this position.”