Staff Directory
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- (813) 955-1750
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- Led the Bulls to five NCAA Tournament appearances, including three trips to the second round
- American Conference team championships in 2017, 2019
- Americanย Coach of the Year in 2017, 2019
- Coached one ITA All-American and six All-Americanย performers, including two Americanย Players of the Year and one Americanย Freshman of the Year
- 14 seasons as a professional player on the ATP Tour
- Captured four ATP tournament doubles championships, while reached the U.S. Open semifinals (2006) and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon (2004) and the Australian Open (2006)
- Career high doubles world ranking was No. 19
- Two-time All-American player for TCU, where he was ranked No. 1 nationally in doubles
- Worked as broadcaster for the Tennis Channel, ATP Media and FOX Sports at events such as the Australian Open and the Davis Cup
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South Florida menโs tennis has enjoyed one of its most prosperous eras under head coach Ashley Fisher, who has led the Bulls to four NCAA Tournament appearances, two Americanย Conference titles and a record of 139-107ย since taking over in the 2016-17 school year.
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Fisher says the best is yet to come.
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โWeโre always looking to continue the upward trajectory,โโ Fisher said. โThe success weโve had is good, but we want more than that. We are hungry to get even better.
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โWe have been knocking on the door, very close to that breakthrough, very close to that big win. In sports or in life, itโs always hardest to do something you havenโt done before. Once that first domino falls, once that breakthrough happens, I believe you can not only get there, but stay there. And thatโs our goal.โโ
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Fisher was American Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2019, the seasons when the Bulls captured conference titles. He has coached one ITA All-American, two American Players of the Year, one American Freshman of the Year and six all-conference players, along with two all-conference doubles teams.
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The Bulls reached the NCAA Tournamentโs second round three times in a four-season span (excluding the 2020 COVID season), defeating Duke 4-0 in 2017, Alabama 4-3 in 2019 and Duke 4-2 in 2021. The Bulls also made the 2022 NCAA Tournament field, but fell 4-3 against Miami in the first round.
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The 2022 season was an exercise in patience. At midseason, the Bulls were 5-6 with four defeats by a 4-3 score. But South Florida, led by All-American Conferenceย singles player Ivan Yatsuk and doubles team Rithvik Bollipalli and Bruno Oliveira, got hot in the late season and earned the programโs 17th NCAA Tournament bid. The Bulls were boosted by a rigorous schedule that included 10 of the selections for the 64-team postseason field with three (Memphis, SMU, Tulsa) coming from the American.
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In 2021, it was Jakub Wojcik, an All-American Conferenceย singles and doubles (with Bollipalli) performer, who helped the Bulls to an NCAA Tournament second-round finish. Meanwhile, Bollipalli and Wojcik reached the Round of 16 in NCAA doubles play.
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Fisherโs 2019 team finished No. 23 in the final rankings, while winning the American championship and reaching the NCAA Tournamentโs second round. That season, the Bulls had the American's Player of the Year (Alberto Barroso-Campos, who finished 24th individually) and Freshman of the Year (Chase Ferguson). Barroso-Campos also was named an ITA All-American.
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In 2017, Fisherโs first spring season, the Bulls won the American title behind conference Player of the Year Sasha Gozun and resoundingly defeated Duke 4-0 in the NCAA Tournamentโs first round before being dismissed by No. 3-ranked and home-standing Georgia 4-1.
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โThe underdog story has always resonated with me,โโ Fisher said. โAs a player, I wasnโt a factor when I started out in college tennis (at TCU). I ended up as a No. 1-ranked player (in doubles), then top 20 in the world (on the professional tour).
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โItโs not where you start. Itโs where you finish. I know whatโs possible and I love taking on that role here. Some of the so-called brand-name schools might not see us coming. Itโs great fun to surprise people.โโ
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Fisher, a South Florida assistant coach prior to his promotion to head coach on July 12, 2016, had a long career as a touring professional, television broadcaster and coach.
He spent 14 seasons (1998-2011) on the ATP Tour, capturing four ATP doubles titles, reaching the semifinals of the U.S. Open (2006) and quarterfinals of Wimbledon (2004) and the Australian Open (2006).
He reached as high as No. 19 in the world doubles rankings while winning 26 doubles titles and 23 minor-league challengers and futures events in the International Tennis Federation. Fisher competed in 41 grand slam tennis events, posting a 33-41 record. He served for four years as an elected representative on the ATP Player Council, serving with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal among others, before retiring from competition in 2011.
As a broadcaster, he worked as an analyst for the Tennis Channel, ATP Media and FOX Sports, covering numerous ATP World Tour events, the Davis Cup and the Australian Open.
Fisher began his coaching career working as a personal coach for Canadian Junior Tennis in 2004. Starting in 2012, he worked as a head coach on the ATP Tour, guiding professionals such as top 100 ranked ATP World Tour singles player Marinko Matosevic, No. 1 ranked ATP double players Max Mirnyi and 2014 Australian Open doubles champion Robert Lindstedt.
Fisher also worked as a touring tennis professional at The Renaissance, Vinoy Golf and Tennis Club in the Bay Area from 2010-16, and in 2014 was an assistant coach for the San Diego Aviators of Billie Jean Kingโs World Team Tennis league.
A native of New South Wales, Australia, Fisher earned his bachelorโs degree in business administration from Texas Christian University in 1998. He was a two-time NCAA All-American, ranked No. 1 nationally in doubles, and reached the doubles final in the 1996 NCAA Championships during his four-year career with the Horned Frogs. He also served as team captain for a TCU team that was ranked No. 3 in the nation.
Fisher resides in St. Petersburg with his wife, Kirsten, and their two children, Holden and Declan.
