Nick Brochu was hired in July 2007 to take over the most successful men’s tennis program in Sun Belt Conference history.
His first season in charge continued that tradition as he led South Alabama to its second consecutive Sun Belt title as the Jags finished just out of the top 50 nationally at No. 51. He has since led the Jaguars to back-to-back Sun Belt Championships in 2018 and 2019, while under his direction, South has also earned a pair of first-round victories in the NCAA tournament over ranked opponents – No. 21 Memphis (2018) and No. 40 Tulane (2019).
Entering his 21st season in college tennis and 16th season at the helm of the Jaguars, Brochu has amassed a 278-178 record overall and 212-135 record at South. Under his guidance, South has had 33 all-conference singles selections and 14 doubles sections, in addition to nine singles players, and six doubles pairings, being ranked at the end of the spring season.
Brochu led the 2022 team to a 17-7 record and another appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Finals. The Jaguars finished the season ranked No. 65 nationally. Sébastien Collard was voted the Sun Belt Player of the Year and Jack Clements was named the Newcomer of the Year for the Jags. Collard and Louis Delcour both earned first-team selections in singles, while Clements and freshman Maxime St-Hilaire were named to the second team. Collard, Delcour, Clements and St-Hilaire were all voted to the first team in doubles.
After guiding the team to a 12-8 record in 2021 and a third straight Sun Belt Championship, Brochu was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
Loïc Cloes was named the Sun Belt Conference Player to Watch following the 2019 season, while Daniel Lietner was also named league’s player of the year honors in back-to-back season (2014, ’15) during Brochu’s tenure.
Brochu has led four singles players to the NCAA Individual Tournament and three doubles teams to the end of the year tournament. Cloes and doubles partner Clement Marzol earned NCAA doubles berths in 2019 and 2021. In 2021, the duo made it to the NCAA Quarterfinals, becoming ITA All-Americans.
As a team, South finished the season ranked 55th in the country, while the Jags finished 59th in 2018. Brochu has led the Jaguars to four top 60 rankings at the end of the season, with the highest-ranking being No. 52 in 2012.
In 2018, Brochu led the Jags to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since at the Starkville, Miss., Region. Brochu guide the doubles pair of Cloes and Marzol to a No. 24 ranking as they made it all the way to the first round of the NCAA doubles tournament.
The Jags once again advanced to the conference tournament finals in 2017 as the No. 2 seed with a 23-6 record and were ranked as high as No. 28. The ranking was the third-highest ever under Brochu as his 2008 team opened the season ranked No. 26 and was No. 27 on Jan. 31st later that season.
Tuki Jacobs repeated as the conference player of the year and was ranked in the top 100 for the entire spring season. He won the automatic spot in the NCAA Singles Championships by being the highest ranked player in the conference and defeated the only other ranked player in the league twice in addition to three other wins against ranked players. He also received the ITA/Arthur Ashe, Jr. Southern Region Sportsmanship & Leadership Award.
Joining Jacobs on the singles first team was Juan Cruz Soria, who also won the inaugural conference newcomer of the year. Marzol was named the SBC Freshman of the Year, and Cloes was named to the singles second team. Cloes and Soria earned all-league honors as they were named first-team for their play in doubles.
In 2016, South Alabama reached the Sun Belt finals as the No. 2 seed with a 15-12 record, and three Jags earned all-conference recognition. Jacobs was named to the first team and won the SBC Student-Athlete of the Year, the third in a row by the program. Tim Srkala and Juan Troglia received second-team laurels.
Leitner was named the 2014 SBC Men’s Tennis Player of the Year and received first-team all-conference honors in singles and double with his partner, Jacobs. Shayann Vaezzadeh was tabbed second team all-league in singles, while Manuel Belda and Gerhard Gruindelingh were named to the second team in doubles. The five all-conference honorees were the most by the program since also placing five in 2001.
Brochu came to USA after spending five seasons as head coach at Georgia State. In 2006, the Panthers enjoyed the program’s best season, capturing the Colonial Athletic Association conference championship and finishing the season with a 19-5 record. GSU climbed as high as 33rd nationally during the spring, which was the highest ranking in the school’s history. The 19 wins were also a school record and the Panthers advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
During his three-year collegiate playing career at GSU, Brochu was a member of three-straight A-Sun Championship teams (1998-2000). Brochu also earned all-conference recognition in 1999 and 2000 and was ranked as high as No. 31 nationally in the NCAA rankings along with doubles partner Karl Lindberg. While at GSU, he was also a member of two NCAA Tournament teams (1999 and 2000). Prior to arriving in Atlanta, he started his collegiate career at the University of Texas-El Paso.
After graduating from college in 2000, Brochu played professionally on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour for two years. As a professional, he won Future Events, one satellite series event and competed in Challengers. Brochu also played in a Tennis Master Series and was ranked in the ATP doubles top 500.
Brochu also holds a bachelor degree in finance and a master’s degree in sports administration-marketing that he earned at Georgia State.
