University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNIS COACH MAHONY ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION
September 12, 2006 | Men's Tennis
Sept. 12, 2006
Tennessee Athletics Director Mike Hamilton announced Tuesday that men's tennis coach Chris Mahony is resigning his position with UT and is returning to his native Australia to become Tennis Australia's National High Performance Academy Head Coach. In this role, Mahony will be one of the five tennis Australia national coaches, on the national selection committee and will play a role in helping to run the Australian Open, one of the four grand slam tournaments. Mahony plans to remain in the role of head coach until the middle of October or until a permanent replacement is named.
"This is a bittersweet time for me," Mahony said. "On the one hand, my wife and I are excited about the tremendous opportunity presented to us by Tennis Australia and the adventure that lies ahead of us. However, we also realize that we are leaving an institution and community that has been great to us.
"UT and Knoxville have been huge parts of my life for the past 13 years, and I will always treasure my four years playing and seven years coaching here. I appreciate the opportunities given to me at UT by Mike Hamilton, Doug Dickey, Michael Fancutt and Mike DePalmer Sr.
"My wife and I wish to sincerely thank the UT family for its unbelievable support over the years, and we will always remain loyal UT fans."
Mahony was the head coach for two seasons at Tennessee, compiling a 25-20 (.556) record. In 2005, Mahony led UT to a 16-9 mark. Tennessee advanced to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championships that season before falling to eventual national champion UCLA.
"I feel good about the shape the program is in," Mahony said. "We have a core group of great, young players, including two of the best American freshmen in the country. This is a special group of guys who have chemistry, are working hard, and are therefore primed to achieve success."
In 1999 he was named assistant tennis coach at UT. During Mahony's tenure as a UT assistant, he helped mentor five All-America performers, eight All-SEC selections, one SEC singles champion (Peter Handoyo, 2002), two SEC doubles champions (Handoyo and Andy Crews in 2000 and Handoyo and Mark Dietrich in 2002), eight NCAA individual singles selections, two NCAA individual doubles selections, five NCAA All-Tournament Team selections and 13 SEC Academic Honor Roll selections.
As a member of the Vols' tennis team from 1993-96, Mahony became one of Tennessee's all-time greats. He garnered All-America honors for the Vols in 1994 and 1996 and will best be remembered for his outstanding doubles play with partner Pablo Montana. The duo ranks second in the Tennessee record book for most career doubles wins, with 75 as a pairing. Mahony and Montana earned the No. 1 ITA national doubles ranking after claiming the prestigious title of national indoor doubles champions by winning the 1996 Rolex Intercollegiate National Indoor Championships.
Mahony was a standout in the classroom as well. He was an Academic All-America selection in 1995 and 1996, and received Academic All-SEC honors during all four years of his UT career. Mahony competed professionally from 1997-99, ascending as high as No. 325 in the ATP world rankings.
"Chris Mahony has done a tremendous job representing the University of Tennessee," Hamilton said. "First as a student-athlete, then as an assistant coach and currently as our head coach. We wish him well with this tremendous opportunity in his native country, and we look forward to his continued support of the University of Tennessee and its tennis program."
