Brett Ross

Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Roswell, GA

One of the Wake Forest men[apos]s tennis program[apos]s former stars, Brett Ross recently completed his fifth season as assistant coach of the Demon Deacons. A tireless recruiter, Ross has traveled the world in search of top talent to bring to Wake Forest and was instrumental bringing together the Demon Deacons[apos] 2012 incoming class that was ranked as the eighth-best in the country.

Hired by then-head coach Jeff Zinn in 2009, Ross remained in his role of assistant coach when Tony Bresky took over the reins of the program in 2011, and his extensive knowledge of both tennis and Wake Forest have proved to be a tremendous asset. Ross helped lead the biggest turnaround in the country in 2012-13, taking a team that had finished in 10th-place in the ACC the year before to a third-place finish in the conference, a Top 25 ranking and a run to the final of the ACC Championship. Adam Lee, one of Ross[apos] first recruits, turned in one of the best seasons in Wake Forest history, breaking the school[apos]s single-season wins mark with a 38-9 record, including a 24-2 record in dual matches. Lee was named to the All-ACC Team, along with Amogh Prabhakar and David Hopkins, giving Wake Forest three All-ACC honorees for the first time since 2002. In 2010-11, Ross helped lead the team to a 11th-straight NCAA berth and a second round finish in the tournament. The Demon Deacons finished the year with a 14-12 mark and tied for sixth in the ACC. Ross recruit Adam Lee joined the team in January and posted a 10-6 singles record, including a team-leading four match-clinching wins. In his first year as assistant coach in 2009-10, Ross helped guide the Demon Deacons to a 16-10 record and a fourth consecutive appearance in the semifinals of the ACC Championship. The Deacs received their 10th consecutive bid to the NCAA tournament and shut out Columbia in the opening round before falling to then-No. 1 Virgina. Ross also helped mentor Steven Forman and Iain Atkinson as they advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship and earned All-America honors, with Forman becoming the first three-time All-American in program history.

Ross, a native of Roswell, Ga., lettered with the Demon Deacons under the leadership of head coach Jeff Zinn from 2003-2006. By the end of his four-year career at Wake Forest, Ross had solidified several spots in the Demon Deacon record book, including ranks in the top 10 for career singles victories (97), career doubles victories (88), season doubles victories (23) and season singles victories (30). Ross led the Deacons in 2005 with 25 singles wins and also led the team in doubles in 2004 and 2005 with partner Derrick Spice. After his 2006 graduation, Ross split his time between coaching and playing on the ITF Pro Circuit. On tour, Ross qualified for several Challenger events and cracked the Top 500 in the doubles rankings and Top 600 in the singles rankings. On the coaching front, Ross began his teaching career at the Tennis Academy of the South in Georgia, where he worked with high-level juniors.