Mauricio Antun is in his eighth year leading the Belmont men's tennis program after a stellar career as a Bruin. From January of 2019 to August of 2022, Antun served as director of tennis where he oversaw both the Belmont men's and women's tennis programs.
"Evaluating the organizational structure of our men's and women's tennis programs has been front of mind for some time," Corley said. "The goal was to ensure that we had the right leadership in place to lead both programs to success on and off the court. After careful consideration, I have named Mauricio Antun the new Director of Tennis. This speaks to Mauricio's leadership capabilities, and the terrific job he has done in advancing the men's program. I am excited, and highly confident, he will be able to have the same impact on our women's program."
Since taking over the men’s program in July 2016, the Bruin program has taken overwhelming strides at the conference, regional and national levels.
During his tenure, Mauricio has led the program to three OVC titles and seen seven players earn All-OVC honors, including Hendrik Inno being named OVC Player of the Year for two consecutive years (2018, 2019) and Marko Ilic receiving the honor in 2021. He has also earned OVC Coach of Year honors in 2018 and 2019.
In 2021, Antun guided the men's team to one of the most historic seasons in program history. As a No. 3 seed in the OVC Tournament, the Bruins won the conference tournament title and completed the season in a hard-fought duel with Ole Miss in the program's second NCAA Tournament appearance as a team. The year also saw Arthur Toledo and Tomas Luis earn All-OVC honors, both making the Second Team. Antun was also the youngest head coach participating at the 2021 Division 1 NCAA Tennis Championships.
Antun has also helped the program garner accolades on the national stage as well. In 2019, Hendrik Inno and Marko Ilic reached the Round of 16 at the NCAA Doubles Championship, won the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship, competed at the ITA Fall National Championship, and earned a Top-30 ITA Ranking. Inno also earned entry into the singes draw at the prestigious ITA Oracle Masters at Pepperdine University in September.
In taking over the women’s program in January 2019, Antun made an immediate impact. In his first year, the program earned 12 wins, the most since the 2003-04 season. They also qualified for the OVC Championship for the first time since the 2012-13 season. He also guided Somer Henry to All-OVC team honors, which was the first time in program history a women's tennis player received all conference honors.
Prior to his coaching career, Antun ranks among the all-time great players in Belmont history. After two seasons at Virginia Tech, the Brazil native was named 2014 OVC Player of the Year in leading the Bruins to the league title. Antun's 79 combined victories between singles and doubles - and .888 career conference winning percentage - top the program record book. He was also a standout junior player, being ranked in the top 300 of the ITF World Junior Rankings, as well as holding a ATP Tour Professional Ranking of 1430 at the age of 18.
Before coming to Belmont, Antun spent two years competing at Virginia Tech, where he earned 27 singles wins and was named Rookie of the Year in 2012, where both years his team received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, where they reached the round of 32 in 2013.
Antun and his wife, the former Rachel Walsh, reside in Brentwood, TN
