DURHAM – Former Duke men's tennis head coach and six-time ACC Coach of the Year Jay Lapidus makes his way back to the court in a new role as a special assistant coach for Duke Men's tennis.

He will also continue in his role as current Senior Director of Iron Dukes/Major Gifts here at Duke.

"Jay has been an integral part of Duke Tennis for over 30 years," Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. "We have a unique opportunity to bring him on-court again to benefit from his experience and passion. Jay will serve as a player development advisor and a mentor to our student-athletes, in addition to continuing his work with development & networking for men's and women's tennis. Jay is a former No. 1 NCAA player and was a Top-35 ATP tennis professional in his career which adds an invaluable perspective to our team. I feel very fortunate to have Jay in this new role. Today is a huge win for the program."

During his 18 seasons as head coach of the Blue Devils, Lapidus guided the team to 13 ACC Championships, 11 ITA national top 10 finishes, was named ACC Coach of the Year 6 times and posted a career record of 133-20 in league play. Lapidus guided the Blue Devils to 17 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 1992-2008 with a career record of 32-16 and six quarterfinal appearances. He was named the ITA Region II Coach of the Year 5 times and produced 27 ITA All-America honorees and 56 All-ACC selections.

Prior to his arrival at Duke, only the 1982 team won an ACC Championship. Under Lapidus, Duke showed its dominance from 1996-2004 when it put together an unprecedented 58-match winning streak in ACC regular season play. The streak included seven consecutive perfect 8-0 seasons against conference foes. 

Off the courts, the Blue Devils excelled in the classroom. Under Lapidus, Duke had a 100 percent graduation rate in 18 seasons. Not only were players graduating but they thrived academically with 123 selections to the ACC Honor Roll in 18 seasons.

Lapidus was the nation's top-ranked collegiate tennis player during his junior year at Princeton in 1980. He earned All-America honors 3 times and was ranked No. 1 nationally in 21-and-under singles by the U.S. Tennis Association in 1980. Upon graduation in 1981, Lapidus played professionally on the ATP tennis circuit from 1981 through 1987 and was ranked as high as No. 34 in the world in singles in 1983.

As a professional tennis player, Lapidus reached the round of 32 at the U.S. Open in 1984, the round of 16 at the Australian Open in 1985 and the round of 32 at Wimbledon in 1986. Following his pro career, Lapidus worked as an assistant coach at South Carolina for two seasons before moving to Durham to coach the Blue Devils.

A native of Princeton, N.J., Lapidus was the national interscholastic singles champion for the Lawrenceville School in 1977 and won four state prep titles. He was inducted to the Mercer County (N.J.) Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 2010, and Middle States Hall of Fame in 2014. Lapidus is married to the former Pia Tamayo and the couple has one son, Jason, who lettered four years in tennis at Duke from 2016-19.

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