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Mario Rincon embarks on his fifth season as the head coach of the Miami men's tennis program.
Rincon guided the Hurricanes to their third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007-08, advancing to the second round of team competition. Miami's third-ranked doubles tandem of Daniel Vallverdu and Carl Sundberg earned All-America honors, advanced to the NCAA's Round of 16 and finished among the program's top three in single-season doubles wins. Vallverdu's 27 doubles victories on the season, including two with David Rosenfeld, placed him in a tie with Rosenfeld for second place in Miami history -- just one win short of the single-season record set in 1975-76 by Alvaro Fillol. In addition, Sundberg's 26 doubles wins in 2007-08 -- including one with Hector Nieto -- put him in a tie for fourth place.
Vallverdu and Sundberg entered the 2008-09 fall season as the nation's top-ranked doubles pair.
In 2007-08, Vallverdu also earned his second All-America honors in singles competition and his fourth overall, was ranked as high as third in the country and advanced to the NCAA's Round of 32.
In his first four seasons at the helm of the program, Rincon has had four players earn 10 All-America honors. Only three Hurricanes have earned as many as four All-America honors in program history -- with two (Vallerdu and Luigi D'Agord) accomplishing the feat under Rincon's tutelage.
In 2006-07, three Hurricanes earned All-America honors. D'Agord, an All-American in both singles and doubles play, was ranked as high as ninth in the nation in 2006-07, repeated as ACC Player of the Year after his second-straight undefeated season in league play at No. 1, advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Tournament and finished his final collegiate season with a 28-5 singles record, including an 18-5 mark versus ranked opponents.
Josh Cohen wrapped up his career as the winningest Hurricane in program history with a combined 174 wins -- including 82 doubles victories, which ranks second-best all-time at UM. He earned All-America honors in doubles play alongside D'Agord as the duo, who were ranked as high as third in the nation, advanced to the NCAA's Round of 16.
Vallverdu earned his second All-America honors -- and first in singles play -- as a sophomore in 2006-07 and advanced to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Singles Tournament. He finished the season ranked No. 34 in the nation, posted nine wins versus ranked players and repeated as All-ACC Men's Tennis Team and All-ACC Academic Team picks.
In 2006, Rincon earned ACC Coach of the Year accolades after leading the Hurricanes to a remarkable turnaround in just his second season at Miami. Just one year removed from a 12-11 campaign that saw UM finish ninth in the ACC with a 2-8 record, Rincon guided the Hurricanes to a 20-5 overall record and a share of the ACC regular season title with a 9-2 conference mark, culminating with the program's 41st appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Under his direction, the Hurricanes were ranked among the nation's top 10 for the first time since 1994, and finished the season No. 11 after the program's first "Sweet 16" appearance at the NCAA Tournament in five years.
That season, Rincon led the Hurricanes in a sweep of all three ACC postseason men's tennis awards for the first time in league history, as D'Agord was named the 2006 ACC Player of the Year and Vallverdu was selected ACC Freshman of the Year.
D'Agord finished his junior season ranked third in the nation with a 36-5 overall record to tie former UM great Conny Falk for the second-most wins in a single season in school history. Together, D'Agord and Vallverdu went 9-2 in the top-flight doubles position, finishing the season ranked 13th nationally after advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Men's Tennis Doubles Championships.
Eric Hechtman and John Hoyes joined D'Agord and Vallverdu on the 2006 All-ACC Team after finishing the season with just one loss apiece.
Coach Rincon took the helm of the Hurricanes' men's tennis program in October of 2004, and guided UM to a 12-11 dual record in the spring of 2005, while finishing in the top 65 of the final ITA National Rankings. Under his direction, Cohen garnered All-ACC honors while earning a berth at the 2005 NCAA Championships.
Rincon came to Miami following a three-year stint at the University of Alabama where he served as an assistant coach on the Crimson Tide staff. As an assistant at Alabama, Rincon shared in the Crimson Tide's recruiting efforts in addition to his day-to-day responsibilities of coaching.
Rincon joined the Crimson Tide in July of 2001 and along with head coaches, Billy Pate in 2002 and 2003 and Adam Steinberg in 2001, guided Alabama to two top-20 final rankings and one top-40 finish in three seasons. In 2002, Rincon helped lead Alabama to a No. 15 national raking after winning the NCAA East Regional and a birth into the NCAA "Sweet 16."
As a player, he spent nine years (1989-98) on the ATP tour, playing in each of the four Grand Slam venues: the U.S. Open, French Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open. As a professional, Rincon was ranked as high as No. 193 on the ATP tour and in the top 200 from 1994-96.
Rincon also spent five years (1993-97) on the Japanese pro tour, where he was ranked as high as No. 2 in singles, and was a member of the Colombian Davis Cup team for nine years (1989-98), leading the team to Group I in 1997.
Rincon was an NCAA All-American as a standout at the University of Kentucky, winning an SEC No. 2 flight Championship in 1988. He spent two seasons (1986-87) at North Greenville College (S.C.) where he was named the National Junior College Champion in 1987.
A native of Colombia, Rincon graduated from Kentucky in 2001 with a bachelor of science in Agricultural Communications.
Rincon and his wife, Laura, are the parents of daughters Laura Sofia (9), Daniela Andrea (6) and Gabriela (2).
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