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F.D. Robbins enters his 22nd season as the head coach of the Utah men's tennis team. Robbins has tallied a 280-253 record since becoming the head coach in 1987.
Robbins led the tennis squad to three Western Athletic Conference championships in 1987, `89 and ' 90. In 1989, he was honored with Utah's Don Reddish Coach of the Year Award.
The Utes finished the 2007 season with a 12-11 overall record and tied for fourth in the Mountain West Conference. The Utes ranking by Intercollegiate Tennis Association peaked in March at No. 61; prior highest ranking was No. 48 back in March of 2006. Zach Ganger was invited to compete in the 2007 NCAA Championships at the end of the season.
At Utah, Robbins has coached three Academic All-American teams, seven Academic All-American players and two ITA Regional Players of the Year. He has also coached All-Americans Jeff Robbins, Christian Svensson and Greg Holmes. Under Robbins' tutelage, Holmes also captured the 1982 NCAA singles championship.
Robbins has guided Utah to the NCAA team championship finals three times (1986-87, 1987-88, 1989-90) the NCAA Indoor Championships three times (1986-87, 1989-90, 1990-91) and NCAA regional competitions three times (1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97).
As a collegiate player at Utah, Robbins had an impressive resume. He played the No. 1 singles position all four years and reached the NCAA tournament quarterfinals in 1970. He also won the National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships and achieved All-America status twice. Robbins graduated from the University of Utah in 1972 with a degree in finance.
After completing his collegiate career, Robbins played on the pro circuit and ranked as high as 20th in the nation in singles and 10th in doubles. He competed in the US Open three different times, reaching the third round once. He holds career victories over Roscoe Tanner, Dick Stockton, Eric Van Dillen, Bob McKinley, Tom Gorman and Sandy Mayer. He also was a member of the United States Davis Cup reserve team.
While at Olympus High School, Robbins was the Utah high school singles champion and the second ranked player in the nation in the 18 singles and doubles divisions. He was one of two players to represent the United States at the International Junior Sunshine Cup and was also a competitor for the National Junior Davis Cup team from 1966-71. In the 16-and-under division, Robbins was ranked fourth nationally. He and his partner won the National Junior Doubles title and ended up ranked second nationally. He won the U.S. National Junior Grasscourts, U.S. National Junior Hardcourts and the U.S. National Junior Westerns.
Robbins was the head tennis professional at the Salt Lake Sports Mall for 15 years and currently holds the same position at the University of Utah Eccles Tennis Center. He serves on the ITA Region VII Tennis Committee. Robbins and his wife, Shelley, have four children: Tiffany, Courtney, Brett and Chad. They also have six grandchildren.
He is a member of the Utah Tennis Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame with the class of 2002.
