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Jeff Zinn, who has led Wake Forest into the most successful period in program history, enters his 13th season as the head men's tennis coach.
Zinn has transformed the Demon Deacon program from a top-75 team to a top-25 team and made Wake Forest a consistent top tier club at the ACC and NCAA levels. Under his guidance, Zinn has guided Wake Forest to six straight NCAA Tournaments and six overall appearances.
While Zinn credits his players for the success of the program, it is worth noting how the accomplishments those he recruited and tutored to Wake Forest have piled up.
Deacon individuals have earned All-ACC honors 14 times in Zinn's 10 years at Wake. In contrast, only 12 Deacons had earned all-conference honors in the 42 years prior to his arrival.
All seven of the program's NCAA Tournament appearances have come under Zinn's watch, including six in a row.
Four times in the last six years, Wake Forest has finished among the top four of the ACC. The Demon Deacons' 32 conference wins over the last six years are the most ever that the school has won in that time span.
Wake Forest's top five career leaders in singles wins and the top six career leaders in doubles victories all played under Zinn.
In 2006, Zinn coached his first All-American, junior Todd Paul. Paul finished the year ranked in the top 20 and reached the second round of the NCAA Championships. As a team, the beat went on for the Deacons who reached the NCAAs for a sixth straight year.
In 2005, Wake posted a 17-7 record, the most wins since 2002 and the fourth-most in history. The team's seven wins in the ACC were the most in a single season. Wake Forest matched its best ever NCAA Tournament performance by reaching the second round. The Deacons had four individuals in the national rankings at the same time -- a program first. The team's signature win came against 5th-ranked Duke, a convincing 6-1 victory, marking Wake Forest's first win against the Blue Devils since 1981. The team finished 17th in the rankings.
Individually, Derrick Spice reached the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year and became the program's first-ever three-time All-ACC selection. He was joined on the team by Paul.
In 2004, the Deacons qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight time. Spice qualified for the NCAA Singles Tournament and was named All-ACC. Paul became only the second Deacon to ever win the ACC Rookie of the Year award. Wake finished 11-11.
In 2003, the Deacons reached 17th in the national rankings, the highest in school history. Wake Forest saw its 15-year-old school record for career singles wins broken by all three starting seniors plus junior David Loewenthal in a banner 14-9 year for Zinn that culminated with the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win. Loewenthal and David Berè were named All-ACC for the second consecutive year and Loewenthal again qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship.
Zinn led the Deacons to a 17-5 record in 2002, including six ACC victories and culminating in another trip to the NCAA Tournament. A fixture in the national rankings all year, Wake Forest broke into the top 20 for the first time in school history when it reached 19th. Loewenthal qualified in singles for both the ITA National Indoor Championships and the NCAA Championships. Wake Forest led all teams with four All-ACC selections, as Loewenthal, Berè, Spice and Trent Brendon all garnered All-ACC honors and Spice was also named the ACC Rookie of the Year.
Leading Wake Forest back to the NCAA Tournament in 2001, Zinn directed a young Deacon team to a 14-11 season, with a 5-3 ACC mark for fourth place. Advancing to the ACC semifinals, Wake Forest was ranked as high as 31st in the nation and finished 43rd. Raul Munoz earned All-ACC honors and Justin Kaufmann was named the No. 6 singles ACC Flight Champion. Munoz was named the Wake Forest Scholar Athlete of the Year and received the James-Weaver-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship.
Wake Forest won 13 matches under the direction of Zinn in 2000 and just missed making the NCAA Tournament. Myles Clouston earned All-ACC honors and won the No. 1 doubles ACC Flight Championship in 1999 with Raul Munoz for the second straight year.
In 1998, Zinn led the Demon Deacons to a 14-12 record and the school's first ever NCAA Regional appearance.
While at Arkansas-Little Rock, Zinn was named the 1994 Sun Belt Coach of the Year after his team finished second in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. He duplicated that mark and more in both 1995 and 1996 when the Trojans qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Zinn tutored Thomas Andersson, a standout at UALR who was the school's first NCAA singles qualifier when he participated in the 1996 NCAA Championships and later became a Deacon assistant coach.
Named 1992 Sun Belt Coach of the Year for his work with the Trojan women's program, Zinn finished his six-year stint at UALR with a combined men's and women's record of 133-88, including a 79-48 record with the men's program.
Zinn's teams were also successful in the classroom. His program maintained the highest grade point average among the school's 16 varsity teams for four consecutive years. In 1996, the team was awarded with ITA Academic All-American Tennis Team honors.
Prior to his stint at UALR, Zinn was the head coach at Northern Kentucky in 1990. He led the team to a first-place finish in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and tutored one player, Jeff Euwema, as he advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships. He was also named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year that season.
Before his time at NKU, Zinn spent seven years as the Director of Tennis at the West Side Racquet Club in Cincinnati where he personally coached three different high school state champions.
In college, Zinn played number one singles and doubles at Eastern Kentucky and at Cincinnati. Serving as team captain for the Bearcats, Zinn was named the team's MVP as both a junior and senior. He received a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Cincinnati in 1984.
Zinn earned a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Arkansas-Little Rock in 1994 and also worked as an adjunct professor in the Sociology Department, teaching a course titled the Sociology of Sports. Zinn is certified by both the USPTA and the USPTR.
Zinn has twin 18-year old daughters, Kaitlyn and Jaclyn. An avid sports fan, he enjoys watching all Wake Forest sporting events.
