University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Tennis
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Ian Williams, a former standout tennis player at Harvard University and the University of Texas joined UNC men’s tennis coach Sam Paul’s staff as the chief assistant coach last fall.
“I’m honored to be associated with a program that excels both on the tennis court and sees its student-athletes suceed academically at UNC and go on to pursue great careers,” says Williams.
Williams earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Harvard in June 1998. His academic work there focused on fiscal and monetary policy and labor economics. Williams was awarded the Harvard College Scholarship for academic achievement from 1996-98 and was a Dean’s List student the same years there.
Williams initially attended Harvard from 1990-92 and played varsity tennis for the Crimson before taking a leave of absence to attend the University of Texas, where he enjoyed considerable success wearing the Burnt Orange. Williams was a singles finalist at the 1993 Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-America Championships and reached as high as #6 in the national rankings after that. His .700 winning percentage is the 20th best in UT history. He helped leads the Horns to the 1993 SWC championship and the 1994 Southwest Conference co-championship.
He helped lead the Longhorns to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. In 1993, UT reached the semifinals before falling to Southern Cal 5-0. In his senior year, UT reached the quarterfinals before losing to USC yet again, this time 4-2.
Williams finished his career in Austin with a 63-27 record in singles, which is the 27th most wins by a Longhorn in school history, despite the fact he played only two years there. He posted a 41-10 record in 1993, including a 6-0 Southwest Conference record. The 41 wins were the third most in a season in school history behind NCAA champion Steve Bryan (53) and Jonny Levine (43). Williams opened the following season as the #22 ranked singles player in the country.
After leaving Texas, Williams played on the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour in 1994-95. Won the doubles title of the 1995 Trofeo Cuidad de Quito ATP Challenge and holds career wins over Nicholas Lapenti of Ecuador, Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil (1997 and 2000 French Open singles champion), George Bastl of Switzerland, Mahesh Bhupathi of India, formerly #1 in the world in doubles, and Bob Bryan of the United States.
As a freshman at Harvard in 1991, he played #4 singles and finished 16-8 in singles.. That season he led Harvard to the Ivy League title and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. As a sophomore, he played #5 singles and #3 doubles for Harvard in the NCAA Championships where Harvard advanced to the second round after winning its first-ever NCAA Tournament match.
After graduating from Harvard in 1998, Williams worked for four years with the investment bank Deutsche Banc Alex.Brown as an associate in the global private equity group. He worked those four years in the Baltimore and Boston offices, where he focused on corporate finance for venture capital companies. While in Baltimore in he was a roommate of former UNC All-America swimmer Eric Fehr. Williams is single and lives in Chapel Hill.
