Longwood athletics appointed former professional international tennis standout Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez as the program’s fourth men’s head tennis coach in early December, taking the place of former head coach Pierre Tafelski. Tafelski left the head coaching position at Longwood to accept the assistant coaching job at Boise State in October 2017.
Formally a highly-ranked professional tennis player, Medina Alvarez competed in Wimbledon and the U.S. Open as a junior competitor throughout his decorated career. He additionally won eight gold medals and five silver medals at the Venezuela National Games, according to the official Longwood athletics website.
Medina Alvarez said he and Longwood women’s tennis head coach Maria Lopez have been best friends with each other since they were 10 years old living in Venezuela. Lopez, who is in her second year as head coach, told Medina Alvarez about the head coaching vacancy for the men’s team, and he took the opportunity when it was presented.
“At that time, I had my own tennis academy in Orlando, Florida, but I knew it was time to make a change,” said Medina Alvarez. “I wanted to be a part of something that is bigger than myself, and that’s when the whole idea came about in coming to Longwood.”
Medina Alvarez said coaching the men’s team alongside his long-time best friend at the same school is "a dream come true."
“I made a promise to her a long time ago that I wanted to do something together,” he said. “When the opportunity came, I thought maybe this was a chance that she and I can run something where we can make a change not only in the community, but as well in tennis.”
Medina Alvarez said he started tennis at a young age, and followed his aspirations to travel around the world and play tennis against people from different cultures. He’s been to over 25 countries across the globe, including trips to Argentina, Spain and Japan to understand how different countries play tennis.
This experience, he said, will help form his players into a powerful team if they utilize his knowledge to its fullest extent.
“I’m extremely disciplined and conservative when it comes to systems and choices. I can’t play for them; they have to want to perform. I’m bringing them all the tools for them to go that way, and if we’re able to do that right, then results will come,” said Medina Alvarez.
Additionally, the first-year head coach said the philosophy of the eight-man team is for them all to think alike and make similar choices whether they are competing in a singles or doubles match.
As with all new head coaches, Medina Alvarez understands the difficulty of entering a new chapter of his life and forming bonds between himself and his team.
“I believe that when you come into a new area and have all these players, you need to earn their trust,” he said. “It’s going to have the ups and downs, but I’m confident at this point that we are becoming that team where they can trust me and I can trust them.”
A year removed from the programs’ best season in the Division I era, Medina Alvarez takes over a diverse team with plenty of talent, with players like nationally ranked sophomore Amadeo Blasco, junior Julian Farthing and freshman Raisei Sakai.
Medina Alvarez noted each one of his eight players are from different countries, cultures and backgrounds. Although they all have different playing styles depending on where they came from, he said he wants to utilize his professional knowledge as well to help them succeed this season.
“The main thing for me is for my guys to know they are accountable for their decisions, and know that I’m here to provide all the knowledge I gained all these years,” he said. “At the same time, I’m asking everything from them, because that’s the only way you can achieve greatness.”
The Lancers started their season 2-1 after a loss against Bluefield State and two victories in the Mary Washington Invitational. The team travels to North Carolina next for the East Carolina University Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 10.
Men’s tennis head coach Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez was appointed in early December, joining his long-time friend women's tennis head coach Maria Lopez at Longwood.
Men’s tennis head coach Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez ran his own tennis academy in Florida prior to taking the job at Longwood.
