Men's Tennis
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- efe@rice.edu
- Phone:
- 348-8855
C-USA Coach of the Year 2016, 2017
AAC Coach of the Year 2025
Ustundag earned Coach of the Year honors for the third time in his career after the Owls rattled off three-straight victories against higher-ranked and higher-seeded teams in the AAC Tournament to capture its first American Athletic Conference championship, becoming the only team in Rice Athletics history to win a conference championship in all four conferences the Owls have been members of (SWC, WAC, C-USA, AAC). The title earned Rice its first back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament since 2016-17.
Ustundag enters his ninth season as the Owls head coach looking for his squad to recapture some of the momentum of the 2018-19 season after seeing the 2020 dual and fall seasons wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Owls return to action for the 2021 dual season after a fall limited to just a pair of matches at the Texas Regional before the team was recalled due to contact tracing.
The Owls' 2018-19 season saw them Owls finish at 14-13 and produce the conference player of the year in Sumit Sarkar.
Sarkar became only the second Owl to capture C-USA top honor in tennis, joining Bruno Rosa in 2010. He completed his season by earning the Owls’ first NCAA singles berth since Rosa in 2010.
A two-time winner of the C-USA Coach of the Year award, Ustundag lead his team to consecutive conference titles in 2016 at George R. Brown and in 2017 when the Owls staged a memorable rally to down ODU in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The 2017 Owls not only matched their 2016 counterparts by bringing the C-USA championship trophy back to the George R. Brown Tennis Center, but they also matched them by finishing with a 23-8 record, posting the most wins over two years (46) in school history in the process.
The back-to-back conference titles were the first for Rice men's tennis since the Owls took five consecutive SWC titles from 1969-72. Additionally, the doubles duo of Tommy Bennett and David Warren qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship for the second consecutive year, matching the Barker twins (William and Richard) who competed in 2003 and 2004.
Ustundag's 2016 team capped a rebuilding process by posting a 23-8 dual mark, the second-most wins by Rice in the dual era, which included the first win over a top 10 opponent in a decade. The Owls rose as high as 26th in the Oracle ITA poll before ending the year ranked 30th, their highest finish since 2010.
In addition, the tandem of Tommy Bennett and David Warren stormed into the national doubles rankings, finishing at 27th (highest ranking since 2006) and becoming the Owls' first entries in the NCAA Doubles Championship since 2008.
For his efforts, Ustundag was named the C-USA Men's Tennis Coach of the Year by his peers while freshman Jake Hansen became the first Owl to be named C-USA Freshman of the Year in men's tennis.
The sparking 2016 results were hinted at in a bounce-back 2015 campaign that saw the Owls return to the national rankings as they opened the dual campaign in their new home, the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
The Owls closed out the 2015 dual season ranked 54th as well as C-USA runners up, completing a year that also saw them post their first win over a top 20 team since 2009 when they downed #19 Northwestern.
Ustundag assumed the reigns of the program in July 2012 after being named as Ron Smarr's successor on November 10, 2011, after eight seasons under the Hall of Famer who retired as college tennis' career wins leader.
In eight seasons as Smarr's assistant, Ustundag helped guide the Owls to seven top 50 rankings, seven NCAA berths and produced a qualifier for the NCAA singles championship six times. The Owls also have racked up 29 All-Conference honors during Ustundag's tenure.
A
doubles All-America selection at Rice, Ustundag also anchored the Owls singles lineup during his final three seasons and maintained a national NCAA ranking as high as 16th. He was the MVP at the 1996 Team Championships in San Diego.
Ustundag followed that up with Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Tennis Magazine's Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for sportsmanship and leadership in 1999. He was an All-WAC Singles First-Team selection and All-WAC Doubles Second-Team honoree en route to NCAA Region VI Senior Player of the Year.
He began his coaching career in 2002, serving for two seasons at Texas Tech as an assistant coach and helping lead the Red Raiders advanced to Big 12 Semifinals in 2003.
Ustundag spent two years as a professional player and assistant coach for Enka Tennis Club in his native Turkey. He assisted Ali Gorec, the former Turkish Davis Cup coach, in various administrative and coaching duties.
Ustundag won the national championship in both singles and doubles during 2000, while capturing the national indoor championship in both events in 2001. He also was a member of the Turkish Davis Cup team from 1997 to 2001.
Before attending Rice, Ustundag attended the famous Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida from 1990-93. He was awarded the NBTA Grand Slam award for academics, citizenship, and athletics in 1992.
Ustundag graduated from Rice in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in managerial studies and sports management. He makes his home in Houston with his wife Suur Biliciler-Ustundag and daughter Ahenk (9).
| Career | Coaching | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | W | L | Conference Finish | NCAA | Ranking | |
| 2012-13 | 11 | 14 | Semifinals | |||
| 2013-14 | 10 | 13 | Semifinals | |||
| 2014-15 | 12 | 14 | Runner Up | 60 | ||
| 2015-16 | 23 | 8 | Champions | Round of 64 | 30 | |
| 2016-17 | 23 | 8 | Champions | Round of 64 | 44 | |
| 2017-18 | 9 | 17 | Quarterfinals | |||
| 2018-19 | 14 | 13 | Semifinals | |||
| 2019-20 | 4 | 8 | Canceled due to COVID-19 | Canceled due to COVID-19 | ||
| 2020-21 | 9 | 12 | Quarterfinals | |||
| 2022-23 | 12 | 10 | Quarterfinals | 61 | ||
| 2023-24 | 17 | 9 | Semifinals | Round of 64 | 47 | |
| 2024-25 | 16 | 10 | Champions | Round of 64 | 47 | |
| TOTAL | 160 | 136 | 3 Championships | 4 Appearances | -- |
