Women’s tennis adds Pete Francis to staff as assistant coach

AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn women’s tennis has added Pete Francis as an assistant coach, Tigers head coach Jordan Szabo announced on Thursday.

“Excited to welcome Pete and his wife Cici to the Auburn Women’s Tennis family,” said Szabo. “Through Pete’s coaching journey, he has proven that he is one of the most elite coaches in the world and we are fortunate to have him on the staff. I know that Pete is eager to work hard and give his all for Auburn and raise the bar for the women’s tennis program.”

Francis joins the Auburn staff after spending the 2023-24 season with the University of Oklahoma women’s tennis program. In his one season with the Sooners, the team posted a 19-7 overall record and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma finished the season ranked 19^th in the nation.

Prior to that, he made coaching stops Virginia Tech, Arizona, Georgia State and Georgia Gwinnett College. He helped lead both the men’s and women’s teams at Georgia Gwinnett College to NAIA Championships and undefeated seasons in 2021 as an assistant coach.

From 2016-2019, Francis coached professionally for Sportime NY where he trained the top international junior tennis players. He also served as a travel coach for former world No. 14 Coco Vandeweghe, helping her to a singles quarterfinal finish at Wimbledon in 2015 as well as a doubles quarterfinal finish in 2016.

As a player, Francis was a top-10 junior player in the United Kingdom and graduated from Embry Riddle University in 2012 where he was a four-time NAIA All-American. The Hampshire, England native married the former Cici Jacob earlier this year.

Francis will join Czabo and assistant coach Valaria Zeleva on the 2024-25 coaching staff.