Email: meike.babel@vanderbilt.edu
In the summer of 2003, Vanderbilt chose Meike Babel as its new assistant coach for women[apos]s tennis. At the time, Head Coach Geoff Macdonald could only describe the hire as a [quote]coup[quote] for Vanderbilt tennis. Babel was equally excited about the prospect of coaching a national championship contender.
[quote]I am very happy here,[quote] Babel said. [quote]I am getting to live my dream. At Vanderbilt, I am coaching at the highest level of collegiate tennis. And coaching with Geoff is a lot of fun – he makes us all excited about coming to work every day.[quote]
Babel is a 10-year veteran of the WTA Tour, the pinnacle of professional women[apos]s tennis. During her career, Babel ascended all the way to No. 27 in the world in singles and No. 45 in doubles.
The Langen, Germany, native competed in all four Grand Slam events – the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the United States Open – a total of 19 times, advancing to the third round of the Australian and French tournaments three times.
In singles, Babel won a pair of titles on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) tour in 1991 in Paderborn, Germany, and Madeira, Portugal. She was a finalist in three tournaments – the 1992 Belgian Open, 1993 Prague and 1994 Linz.
Babel[apos]s doubles career included a 1998 WTA title in Istanbul with partner Laurence Courtois. The pairing also reached the finals at Luxembourg in 1997, the same year that saw Babel earn runner-up status at Warsaw, Poland. Babel also had the honor of representing her home country in the Federations Cup in 1997 and 1998.
Babel brings an amazing wealth of knowledge to the Music City, as she has faced-off against many of the world[apos]s top players, including 10 players in the WTA[apos]s October 2003 Top 25. Babel has also played against such greats as Martina Hingis and Monica Seles. Among her greatest wins, Babel cites a pair of 1998 victories – at Indian Wells over then-world No. 22 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy and against defending-champion Marion Maruska in Auckland, New Zealand.
A year after turning pro in 1991, Babel was nominated as the WTA Tour[apos]s Most Impressive Newcomer.
[quote]I have been blessed with great assistants ever since I have been here,[quote] Macdonald said. [quote]I really view the coaching job here as one where you co-coach: you bring in somebody who is incredibly good at what they do and you coach along with them.
[quote]Meike brings an incredible wealth of experience as a world-class player. She[apos]s a really nice person, too; someone who is interested in education, but also someone who knows how to play and win at the very highest level. She loves getting down in the trenches every day and doing individual work with the players.[quote]
Babel also has prior experience in collegiate coaching. She was an assistant at Tulane University in New Orleans, La., for two years before coming to Vanderbilt. With the Green Wave, Babel coached two ITA All-Americans, helped lead the team to a 2003 Conference-USA championship and was named the 2003 ITA Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
Babel currently resides in Nashville and plans to pursue a degree at Vanderbilt[apos]s Peabody College of Education in the near future.