Berque Selected to Take Over Men's Tennis Program
7/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan director of athletics Bill Martin announced Monday (July 26) the hiring of Bruce Berque as head men's tennis coach. Berque replaces Mark Mees, who resigned his position May 14 after five seasons at the helm.
| | Berque |
A native of Old Tappan, N.J., Berque was a member of the University of Illinois men's tennis coaching staff for the past six seasons. After joining the Illini as a volunteer assistant in January of 1999, Berque served as the associate head coach under Craig Tiley for the last five years. During his tenure, Illinois captured four NCAA championships (one team, one singles and two doubles), two National Indoor team championships (2003-04), six Big Ten Conference crowns and an NCAA-record 64 consecutive dual match victories.
Following the 2002-03 campaign, which saw the Illini go undefeated at 32-0 and claim the NCAA and National Indoor team titles, Berque was honored as the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year. He is also a two-time ITA Midwest Regional Assistant Coach of the Year recipient (2000, '03).
"To have the opportunity to join a world-class coaching staff at such an academically acclaimed institution is something I could not pass up," said Berque. "The U-M administrators made it very clear that they aim to elevate the men's tennis program back to national prominence and I'm honored that I was chosen to help achieve that goal. I had an overwhelmingly positive experience at Illinois and I'm extremely excited to get started in Ann Arbor."
Prior to his appointment at Illinois, Berque was an assistant for the University of Florida men's program from 1990-96. He helped lead the Gators to the Southeastern Conference Championship in 1994 and coached the 1994 NCAA singles champion and the 1993 NCAA doubles champions. Berque also served as a volunteer assistant coach at Ohio State in 1997-98 and as an assistant for the women's team at his alma mater, Haverford College (Pa.), from 1988-90.
In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Berque has worked as a personal coach for a number of ATP and WTA professionals as well as a traveling coach on Futures and Challengers circuits. A USPTA and USPTR certified professional, Berque is also a member of the USA Tennis High Performance Coaching program.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
