E-mail: thomas.w.boysen@vanderbilt.edu
2010-11: In five seasons at Vanderbilt, assistant coach Tom Boysen has helped head coach Ian Duvenhage mold Vanderbilt[apos]s program into a national power. Boysen has seen Vanderbilt finish each of his four seasons with a national ranking and has helped the team improve its final record in three of those years. Under his watch, the Commodores earned a No. 71 ranking in 2006, No. 37 in 2007, No. 26 in 2008, No. 61 in 2009 and No. 40 in 2010.
Boysen has also helped the Commodores reach the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four seasons. In 2010, Vanderbilt returned to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence. In 2007 and in 2008, the Commodores reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
In addition to returning to the NCAA Tournament, the 2010 season was a banner year for the Commodores on many fronts. Following a 5-17 campaign in 2009, Vanderbilt more than doubled its win total in 2010 by finishing 13-11 overall en route to setting many new bests in the Duvenhage era.
Those bests included five SEC wins, which Vanderbilt had not accomplished since 2004 and a three-match win streak in SEC play for the first time since 2003. Vanderbilt achieved those feats despite playing one of the most challenging schedules in the country for the second straight year. The schedule included matches against three of the Final Four teams. In total, nine of Vanderbilt[apos]s 11 losses came to teams ranked in the top 30, and all 11 came against teams ranked in the top 50.
Hired in August of 2005, Tom Boysen is entering his sixth season as assistant coach at Vanderbilt. A long time Florida resident, Boysen has more than a decade of coaching experience, including three years mentoring on the professional circuit prior to joining Vanderbilt[apos]s staff.
Boysen got into coaching tennis by teaching all ages at the club level. Eventually, Boysen found his niche with young adults and began coaching national caliber juniors. Boysen worked with several national standouts, including Lauren Kalvaria who ranked third in the nation and attended Stanford on scholarship.
Working mostly in Florida, Boysen[apos]s work with the state[apos]s most talented young athletes led him to meet current Vanderbilt head coach Ian Duvenhage, who was formerly at the helm of the University of Florida[apos]s men[apos]s tennis team.
Following his junior coaching tenure, Boysen traveled around the world working with professional athletes. One of Boysen[apos]s most successful students was Todd Widom, who ranked as high as 200 on the ATP charts and competed in three US Open Qualifying draws.
Boysen also coached Scott Lipsky and David Martin to numerous Challenger and Futures doubles titles. In 2007, Lipsky and Martin reached the round of 16 in doubles at Wimbledon, the semis at Newport and finals at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles.
After three years on the circuit, Boysen was ready to try his hand at collegiate level coaching. Boysen had been eyeing the opening at Vanderbilt before he got the call from Duvenhage.
[quote]I knew about the academic standards,[quote] Boysen said. [quote]It was my goal to coach at a school with a good athletic reputation but also a good academic reputation. I knew I wanted to be associated with a great university and a coach who had a reputation for not only putting together a program, but also maintaining a top program.[quote]
Duvenhage quickly inked Boysen after learning of his intentions to make the switch to the collegiate level.
[quote]I[apos]m just absolutely thrilled to have someone of Tom[apos]s ability and stature on our staff,[quote] Duvenhage said. [quote]I have enormous respect for his coaching ability on the court in the heat of the battle. He is very even keeled, he doesn[apos]t get rattled or nervous. He has a calming effect on the players and he gets his ideas across in a very clear, concise manner.[quote]
As a youth, Boysen began participating in team athletics through basketball and cross country. But growing up in Florida, it wasn[apos]t long before Boysen discovered tennis through fellow classmates.
[quote]Up to that point I had only played team sports. I really fell in love with the individual aspect of the game,[quote] Boysen said.
A 1992 graduate of Central Florida with a degree in management, Boysen was also a member of the Knights[apos] tennis program. During his time at UCF, Boysen began coaching at a country club and received an offer to teach fulltime upon graduation.