Men's Tennis
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- csimpso4@tulane.edu
- Hometown:
- Derby, England
- Alma Mater:
- 1st Season, 3rd Overall
Chris Simpson's second season as assistant coach with the Green Wave for the 2016-17 campaign proved to be the best season in the post-Katrina era. The Wave went from 8-14 the year prior to 22-7 in 2017, marking the first 20-win season post-Katrina. The Green Wave also achieved post-Katrina firsts in two different categories: reaching a national ranking as high as No. 36 and producing the program's first top-30 ranked win via 4-3 upset over No. 28 LSU. The Green Wave also proved dominant at home, tallying a 13-2 mark at the City Park Pepsi Tennis Center. In addition, the Wave shown vast improvement in doubles, claiming the early 1-0 advantage in 22-of-29 occasions.
Furthermore, Simpson guided both junior Sade Atkinson and freshman Ivone Alvaro to all-conference seasons, with the latter being named The American's Co-Freshman of the Year. Tulane's two freshmen in Christina Sisti (18-6) and Ivone Alvaro (18-5) each produced 18 dual wins this spring. Continuing with the youth movement was sophomore Elena Muller, who led the Wave in victories, going from 9-8 as a freshman to 19-3 in 2017. The First-Team All-Louisiana selection was equally as impressive in doubles, where she not only knocked off two ranked pairs in No. 43 Foster/Valle Costa of LSU and No. 35 Granic/Wagland of Texas, but also achieved her first career doubles ranking (No. 76).
In his first season with the Wave, Simpson helped guide senior Ipek Birol to her first American All-Conference honor, while progressing junior Kyla Klier into the starting lineup to No. 2 singles (did not start as a sophomore). Simpson also guided freshman Elena Muller to a 9-8 dual record which led the team.
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Simpson arrived in New Orleans in 2015 after graduating from LSU, where he lettered all four years with the Tigers men's tennis program. Tulane marks his first stint as an assistant coach.
While in Baton Rouge, Simpson was named to the SEC All-Freshmen team in 2012, and then followed that up with being an All-SEC candidate for the following three years. In 2013, the Derby, England native was named the ITA Southern Region Player to Watch and Louisiana Player of the Year, all while being selected to compete in the NCAA Singles Championships.
Furthermore, after a senior year in which he claimed 25 singles victories, Simpson finished with 86 career singles wins, which ranked 11th all-time in LSU program history. Add in Simpson’s 85 career doubles wins, and the new Green Wave assistant coach raked in a combined 171 career victories with the purple and gold.
At LSU:
2015 All-SEC Second Team
2014 All-SEC Second Team
SEC Player of the Week (Feb. 26, 2014)
2013 All-SEC Second Team
2013 Louisiana Player of the Year
2013 First Team All-Louisiana
2013 ITA Southern Region Player to Watch
2012 SEC All-Freshman Team
2012 First-Team All-Louisiana
SENIOR SEASON (2014-15):
Posted an overall singles record of 25-13 and overall doubles mark of 21-14. Finished All-SEC Second Team for the third consecutive year ... Finished with 86 career singles wins which ranked as the 11th most all time in LSU program history ... Also totaled 85 career doubles wins.
JUNIOR SEASON (2013-14):
LSU’s go-to player at the No. 1 spot for the 2014 dual season … Competed against 14 ranked opponents … Named SEC Player of the Week on February 26 … Selected to the All-SEC Second Team … Remained in the singles and doubles rankings throughout season … Ranked as high as No. 29 in singles during tournament play and reached No. 62 in the dual season … Started the dual season ranked at No. 60 in doubles and reached as high as No. 20 during the season with Boris Arias … Clinched three matches for LSU, which included the first match of the dual season, a 4-3 victory at Rice on … Took down then-No. 17 Danill Proskura of Alabama while ranked at No. 109 in singles … Finished the season with a 21-20 overall record in singles, which included an 11-13 dual season record … Finished 27-13 in doubles with a 10-6 record on court 1 and a 6-3 record on court 2 … Went 21-10 in doubles with Arias … Earned his third varsity letter.
SOPHOMORE SEASON (2012-13):
Selected to participate in the NCAA Singles Championships … Named to the All-SEC Second Team … Named Player to Watch by the ITA for the Southern Region … Named Co-Player of the Year for Louisiana by the LSWA … Went 12-12 in singles and 10-10 in doubles dual-match play … Ranked No. 58 in singles in the ITA preseason poll and was ranked as high as No. 48 for the season … Ranked as high as No. 33 in doubles with partner Stefan Szacinski … Appeared on Courts 1 and 2 in singles and competed primarily on Courts 1 and 3 in doubles … Took down nine ranked opponents in singles, including a dramatic three-set match-clincher over then-No. 3 Mikelis Libietis (2013 SEC Player of the Year) of then-No. 6 Tennessee … Also defeated then-No. 15 Evan King of Michigan 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) on Court 1 in singles … Defeated John Morrissey of then-No. 40 Stanford in the first round of the NCAA Team Championships … Competed in the ITA All-American Championships, ITA Southern Regional, Key Biscayne Collegiate Invitational, and won the doubles title at the Conference Challenge with partner Stefan Szacinski … Earned his second varsity letter.
REDSHIRT FRESHMAN SEASON (2011-12):
Named to the SEC All-Freshman Team after going an impressive 14-8 in singles and 14-11 in doubles during his inaugural season ... Finished the season ranked No. 92 in singles ... Ranked as high as No. 81 in the country (April 10) ... Defeated two ranked opponents with his biggest win coming over Georgia's then-20th-ranked Sadio Doumbia ... Had his first clinch, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3 over St. John's Ilija Vucic ... Started on court 1 in doubles all season ... Ranked as high as No. 24 with partner Neal Skupski ... Won five-straight with Skupski to end the season ...Put together a 4-2 singles mark and 4-2 doubles record during the fall ... Advanced to the finals of the USTA/ITA Southern Regional Championships after knocking off Mississippi State's preseason 7th-ranked Louis Cant and Malte Stropp 8-6 ... Competed in the USTA Futures Qualifying Tournament, Rice Invitational and USTA/ITA Southern Regional Championships. Earned first varsity letter.
