Former Stanford tennis star Paul Goldstein ’98 was named the Cardinal’s men’s tennis head coach this month after John Whitlinger retired in May, announced Athletic Director Bernard Muir.
“I am humbled, honored, but most of all inspired by the opportunity to lead a program with such a strong intergenerational legacy of athletic and academic excellence,” Goldstein told GoStanford. “I have been a proud member of the Stanford tennis family since I first arrived on campus in 1994 and am thrilled to be returning to the Farm. I look forward to working with our student-athletes and the broader Stanford community to drive success both on and off the court.”
Goldstein graduated from Stanford in 1998 with a degree in Human Biology. During his time on the Farm, he became the first player in NCAA history to compete as a starting member of four straight national championship teams, earning All-America honors each year. Goldstein also led his team to a 104-6 overall record from 1995-98. In May 2013, Goldstein was inducted into the ITA Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame and now serves on the ITA Hall of Fame Committee.
As a senior, Goldstein won Pac-10 Player of the Year, losing only two of his 35 matches. The 1997-8 team finished the season undefeated, dropping only three individual points, and went on to win the national title for a fourth consecutive year. Goldstein finished his career on the Farm with 84 dual match victories, good for fifth in program history.
After Stanford, Goldstein played professionally for 10 years, making his way into the world’s top-200 in less than one year. His ATP rankings reached as high as No. 58 in singles and No. 4o in doubles during those 10 years. For the majority of his professional career, he was the highest ranked player in the world with a college degree. During his professional tenure, he also served a leader, elected by his peers to the 10-member ATP Player Council, which represents the interests of professional tennis players by acting as the contact between the ATP Board of Directors and senior management.
Most recently, Goldstein has been involved with collegiate tennis, serving as a Pac-12 Networks color analyst for the past two seasons for dual meet and conference championships.
“Paul has enjoyed success at every level of his career and his noticeable passion for our men’s tennis program makes him a great fit to be our next head coach,” Muir told GoStanford. “Paul’s infectious enthusiasm and ability to cultivate and sustain positive relationships stood out as dynamic qualities during the search process, which attracted both national and international candidates. Throughout the search, Paul’s name continued to rise above an extremely deep, talented and distinguished pool.”
Goldstein returns to his alma mater and inherits a Stanford team that went 14-6 overall and 5-2 in Pac-12 play during the Card’s 2013-14 campaign and sees the loss of three players to graduation.
Contact Ashley Westhem at awesthem ‘at’ stanford.edu.