Tony Bresky - Men's Tennis Coach - Wake Forest University Athletics

Photo by: Brian Westerholt/Sports On Film

Tony Bresky

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
breskyt@wfu.edu
Phone:
336-758-5886

Coaching Career Record
Wake Forest (2011-Present)	299-90 (97-32 ACC)
Cornell (2010)	26-5 (7-0 Ivy League)
Virginia (2002-10)	240-44 (75-13 ACC)

Career Accolades

2018 National Champions
2018 ITA National Team Indoor Champions
3x ACC Championship Titles (2016, 2018, 2019)
6x ACC Championship appearances (2013, 2015-19)
2x ACC Coach of the Year (2016, 2018)
4x ITA National Coach of the Year (2015, 2017-19)
Most wins in program history (299 wins)
Most conference wins in program history (97 wins)
Best overall and conference winning percentages program history (.768)
13 All-Americans
22 All-ACC honors; 18 All-ACC Academic honors
Hosted NCAA Tournament Regionals seven consecutive seasons (2015-22)

Wake Forest men's tennis coach Tony Bresky has guided the program to the top of the tennis world over the course of his 12 seasons on campus. The program's rise to being a national power culminated in 2018 when the program captured it's first-ever NCAA Championship, defeating Ohio State 4-2 in front of a sellout crowd at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.

However, Bresky and the Deacs weren't done with the team championship, as less than a week later Bresky led a pair of men's tennis standouts to the finals of the NCAA Singles Championship. The fourth men's singles championship in NCAA history to feature players from the same school, Bresky saw Petros Chrysochos claim the program's first-ever individual title when he defeated Borna Gojo in the championship match.

During the team's historic 2018 run, Bresky led the Demon Deacons to the program's first-ever ITA National Team Indoor Championship, it's second consecutive ACC regular season title, second consecutive No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Championship and the second ACC Tournament title in three years. The team finished the year 31-2 overall, including winning 16 consecutive matches to end the year. For his efforts, Bresky was named the ITA National Coach of the Year for the first time in program history while also being named the ITA Regional Coach of the Year for third time in the past four years.

The Deacs' quest to repeat as national champions came up just short one year later as the 2019 team finished runner-up at the NCAA Tennis Championships and the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Bresky guided Wake Forest to its third consecutive ACC Regular Season title and its second-straight ACC Championship while the team finished with a program record 34 wins.

Bresky, who was named the head coach in September of 2011, has accumulated a 299-90 record, including 97-32 in ACC play, giving him the most conference wins and the best overall and conference winning percentages of any coach in program history. His 299 wins is also the most in program history.

Bresky has guided Wake Forest to six ACC Tournament championship appearances, the program's first three conference titles and the program's fourth NCAA Tournament round of 16 berth.

The Deacons posted a team record 33 wins in 2022, breaking the previous record of 31 which was set during the 2018 season. Bresky has helped 22 players earn All-ACC honors and 18 to academic all-conference accolades, while guiding 13 players to All-American status. He also helped Noah Rubin claim ITA National Rookie of the Year and ACC Player of the Year awards in 2015. Both Rubin and Petros Chrysochos earned ITA Carolina Region Rookie of the Year and ACC Freshman of the Year plaudits. Chrysochos would go on to be the ITA Carolina Region Senior Player of the Year in 2019. Henri Squire was named the Freshman of the Year and earned All-American status under Bresky's guidance. Melios Efstathiou garnered All-ACC First Team honors and was tabbed ACC Player of the Year in 2022. During Bresky's 12 seasons, he has been named the ITA Carolina Region Coach of the Year four times and went on to be named the ITA National Coach of the Year during the team's historic 2018 run.

Since taking over the program prior to the 2011-12 season, Wake Forest has finished in the ITA Top 20 at season's end seven times, including being ranked as the No. 1 team in the country to end 2018. The team also hosted NCAA Tournament Regionals in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

During the 2023 campaign, Wake Forest accumulated a 26-12 mark, including a 19-4 ledger at home. The Deacs' 26 wins in 2023 marked the seventh time in the last eight years that Wake Forest had tallied 25+ wins. Overall, the Demon Deacons recorded 12 ranked wins, including three victories over teams ranked in the top 25.

In 2022, the Demon Deacons recorded another memorable season for the program, highlighted by a perfect 26-0 record on home court. Under the direction of Bresky, Wake Forest has posted 30-plus win seasons five times. Additionally, the Demon Deacons won 14 matches this season against ranked foes. Wake Forest advanced to the Round of 16 in five of the last six seasons. A tremendous season for the Deacs ended with numerous awards: Three Demon Deacons earned ITA All-American honors, five All-ACC honors and three All-ACC Academic Team.

Following four seasons that included noteworthy accomplishments, the Deacs continued their rise to prominance under Bresky in 2016. After beginning the season at No. 11, their highest preseason ranking ever, the Deacs went on to go 31-6 and posted a record 20 wins against ranked opponents. The team climbed to No. 5 in the nation, the program's highest-ever ranking, and posted wins over No. 2 Oklahoma and ACC foes North Carolina and Virginia, which both held the No. 1 ranking at the time of the matches. The Deacons had never defeated a team ranked third or higher entering the season.

The victory over Virginia was one to remember, as rookie Dennis Uspensky prevailed in a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) decision at No. 6 singles to seal a 4-3 triumph that gave the Demon Deacons their first-ever ACC Tournament title, ending the Cavaliers' nine-year conference championship reign. It was the Deacs' first win against the Wahoos since 2003.

In the week following the team's first-ever conference title, Bresky earned his second-career ACC Coach of the Year honor and it was announced that Wake Forest would host an NCAA Tournament Regional for the second-consecutive year. The Deacs were the No. 6 overall seed in the tournament and went on to defeat Coastal Carolina and Michigan before falling to eventual national runner up Oklahoma.

Another first for the Deacons in 2016 was their ITA National Team Indoor Championships berth. As one of 15 ITA Kick-Off Weekend hosts, Wake Forest dispatched Auburn and Tennessee to move on to the National Tournament in Charlottesville, Va. At the National Indoors, the Deacs reached the quarterfinal round and registered victories over Oklahoma and USC, the tournament's finalists from the year before.

The 2016 senior class of Romain Bogaerts, Jon Ho, Anthony Delcore, Sam Bloom and Brendan Henry, Bresky's first class at Wake Forest, graduated as the winningest senior class in history at 90-37.

The 2016 season was followed by an even more impressive 2017 season which saw the Deacs climb to No. 1 in the rankings for the first time in program history while also advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tennis Championship, the team's deepest push at the event in program history. Along the way, Petros Chrysochos became the first player in program history to win the ITA All-American Singles Championship and the doubles team of Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim became just the second Demon Deacon duo to claim the ITA National Indoor Doubles Championship.

In 2015, Bresky guided Wake Forest to a 24-8 record and a run to the third round of the national tournament after the Demon Deacons struggled to a 15-14 mark in 2013-14. The Deacs also reached the ACC Championship final At season's end, Bresky was named ITA Carolina Region Coach of the Year.

In just his second season with Wake Forest in 2012-13, Bresky engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in the country, helping Wake Forest to a 20-9 overall record with a 7-3 ACC mark, good for third in the conference, to go with a bid to the NCAA Championship. The campaign followed a 2011-12 season that saw the Deacs finish 10th in the conference at 3-8 and 14-15 overall.

With the highly-successful campaign, Bresky was named ACC Coach of the Year. The award made him just the second Wake Forest men's tennis coach ever to win the award, joining Wake Forest Hall of Famer Jim Leighton. The Demon Deacons finished No. 19 in the final ITA rankings, marking the team's highest finish since 2009. Bresky guided David Hopkins, Amogh Prabhakar and Adam Lee to All-ACC honors in 2013, giving Wake Forest three members of the All-ACC team for the first time since 2002.

Bresky's coaching acumen has allowed him to get the most of his players, including those that he inherited when coming to Wake Forest. His 2013 seniors Hopkins, Prabhakar and Kreyman all posted more than half of their career wins in their two seasons under Bresky, while Lee won 38 matches as a junior in 2013 to set the Wake Forest single-season wins record.

In his first year in Winston-Salem in 2011-12, Bresky inherited a roster of only three players with significant collegiate experience, but still managed to guide the Demon Deacons to a 14-15 record and a quarterfinal appearance at the ACC Championship.

Bresky took over at Wake Forest in September 2011 after spending one stellar season at Cornell, where he led the Big Red to its best season in program history. With Cornell, Bresky led the squad to a 26-5 record overall and a perfect 7-0 mark in Ivy League play, giving the team its first-ever Ivy League championship and first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. Prior to Bresky's arrival at Cornell, no Big Red men's tennis team had ever won more than 20 matches in a season.

Under Bresky's direction, the Big Red placed three players on the All-Ivy League teams in 2011. That total marked the most league award winners in a single season in Cornell men's tennis history. An impressive recruiter, Bresky was able draw top-caliber players to Ithaca. His 2011 incoming class at Cornell was ranked as the fifth-best nationally by the Tennis Recruiting Network and was the only class from a non-BCS conference school to be ranked in the top 10.

In addition to his success at Cornell, Bresky brought a wealth of ACC experience with him to Winston-Salem having served as associate head coach at Virginia from 2002-10.

Under the guidance of head coach Brian Boland, he helped guide the Cavaliers to six ACC Championships. Bresky's list of accomplishments during his tenure at Virginia is lengthy, highlighted by the Cavaliers earning the top national ranking in singles, doubles and as a team on multiple occasions. The Cavaliers won seven-straight Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championships and six ACC tournament titles in the seven seasons.

With Bresky on the coaching staff, Virginia won 62-straight ACC matches and had 19 singles players and nine doubles teams qualify for both the NCAA singles and doubles championships over a stretch of seven seasons. Bresky helped lead the Cavaliers to the national semifinal round three times, the national quarterfinals three times and one appearance in the round of 16.

At Virginia he has two players earn the NCAA Singles national title and one team win the national doubles crown, while having 11 student-athletes earn All-America honors. The 2005 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year, Bresky was a three-time Mideast Region Assistant Coach of the Year and was the only assistant coach in the nation to be named to an ITA committee when he was placed on the ITA Ethics and Infractions Committee.

While at Virginia, the men's tennis program graduated 100 percent of its student athletes. During the summer of 2009, Bresky served as the USTA Men's Summer Collegiate Team Coach, providing elite training for the top varsity collegiate players in the country. The program, designed to provide players with exposure to the professional circuit in a team-oriented environment, saw players competing at USTA Pro Circuit events and the US Open.

Bresky's experience also includes a stint as a private tennis coach in Bronxville, N.Y., in 2001 and 2002, highlighted by his mentoring of Stephen Bass, who was ranked as high as 11th in the USTA junior national rankings. Bass would go on to earn a scholarship at Notre Dame and earn All-America honors while playing for the Fighting Irish.

Bresky also spent time as the Assistant Director of Tennis for Tennis Europe, a program designed to train junior tennis teams traveling throughout Europe.

Before that, he spent two years as a graduate assistant coach at Indiana State, where he helped to guide the Sycamores to a No. 17 national ranking. While at Indiana State, Bresky earned a master's degree in business administration. He helped lead the Sycamores to their first Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament championships in school history while posting a 50-8 overall record. The men's tennis team had the top overall grade point average among men's team sports at Indiana State.

Bresky earned his bachelor's degree in business with a major in accounting from Western Illinois in 1998. He played four years of tennis for the Leathernecks, earning Mid-Continent Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 1994 and garnering league player of the year accolades in each of the next three seasons. He led WIU to the program's first Mid-Continent Conference championship in 1995 and successfully defended the team title the following year. Bresky was a two-time ITA Scholastic All-American in 1996 and 1997 and was a three-year team captain.

Bresky and his wife, Christine, were married during the summer of 2015.