Rob Hubbard is in his 7th season coaching the Sam Houston women’s tennis program after being named as Sam Houston’s eighth women’s tennis coach on July 11, 2016.
In 2021, Hubbard lead the Bearkats to their first regular season conference title in the 44-year history of the program, winning the Southland with a 10-1 league mark and 15-4 overall record. The Kats set team records for highest conference winning percentage (.923), overall season winning percentage (.851) and Southland Conference single season wins (10). The team's nine-match winning streak from February 28 to April 6 also was a team first. That stretch included a program best eight consecutive Southland victories.
Number one singles player Sahaja Yamalapalli posted several individual Bearkat firsts. The four-year letter-winner was unbeaten at the number one singles spot, rolling up Sam's first perfect record ever with an 18-0 mark atop the line-up. She was named Southland Player of the Year, becoming the first Bearkat to win that honor twice, having also earned the recognition in 2019.
In his first six seasons at the helm of the Bearkat program, Hubbard has posted an overall record of 71-46 and a league mark of 37-16. The Bearkats were the Southland Tournament runners up in 2019 and advanced to the Western Athletic Conference semifinals in 2022. During the 2020 season, no championship was awarded but the Kats had started the Southland slate at 4-0.
Hubbard’s teams have qualified for the postseason tournament all five years a championship has been held under his direction. Prior to his arrival, the Bearkats had missed the postseason three straight seasons. They have made three semifinal appearances and one trip to the finals.
In addition to coaching Yamalapalli to a pair of Southland Player of the Year awards, Hubbard coached Megan Bason who was named the WAC Freshman of the Year in 2022.
Bearkat players have earned either first team, second team or honorable mention all-conference honors 19 times under Hubbard, with five earning first-team recognition.
The Sam Houston women’s tennis players have performed well in the classroom as well, continually posting the one of the highest overall team grade point averages in the program history.
Hubbard, a Maryland native and former professional player on the ATP tour, came to Sam Houston after serving as head men’s and women’s tennis coach at the University of Maryland Baltimore County for the past eight seasons. He also was head coach at Goucher College in Baltimore and the University of Texas-Pan American.
Hubbard directed the UMBC men’s and women’s programs to a combined dual match record of 142 victories and 107 losses that included America East Conference championships in four consecutive seasons from 2010 to 2013. Both programs also exceled academically, earning Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) team academic honors.
As head coach at Goucher College from 2000 to 2005, Hubbard’s teams earned NCAA Division III top 30 rankings and the program’s first NCAA Championships berth. He was selected as both ITA Atlantic South Region and Capital Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
He returned to his alma mater as head coach at UTPA and again produced squads who achieved both on the court and in the class room. His 2008 women’s team rolled up 17 victories, the highest season wins total in UTPA women’s history. The Broncs were one of only 20 programs nationally to earn ITA Academic Team honors for both men’s and women’s tennis.
A 1974 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School in Maryland, Hubbard played on nationally-ranked teams at Texas-Pan American in Edinburg from 1974 to 1978. He was a part of the first Broncs’ team to achieve an ITA Top 10 national ranking. He earned berths in the NCAA Division I Championships in both singles and doubles his final two years at UTPA.
Following the 1978 season, Hubbard turned professional and played three seasons on the ATP Tour where he was ranked in the top-300 in the world and competed in a pair of U.S. Open's in 1979 and 1980. He was a two-time USTA National Champion (National Men’s 35 and 40 Hard Courts) and was selected to represent the United States at the Italia Cup, a 35-and-over Davis Cup competition, during his post-professional playing days. He was also the USPTA Maryland Pro of the Year in 2000 and was the USPTA Mid-Atlantic 35-and-over Player of the Year during his elite playing career.
Hubbard brings a strong background as a teaching professional. He spent eight years as the owner and director of Tournament Tough Training Center in Baltimore training elite junior players for national, sectional and state competition. In the program, players were mentored throughout on-court drilling and match-play as well as off-court weight training, conditioning, nutrition and mental training. The center produced more than 25 nationally-ranked junior players.
He also served as co-head coach of the USTA Junior Player Development Area Training Center in Baltimore; director of tennis at The Elkridge Club; head professional at the Orchard Indoor Tennis Club and co-owner of the Tennis Institute Tennis Camp. He started in the coaching profession as the Assistant Tennis Professional at The Wimbledon Racquet Club in Arlington, TX.
He is a certified coach by the USPTA and a former member of the Board of Directors of the USTA Player Development Area Training Center. He has earned a USPTA (P-1) Certification.
His wife Robin was a nationally-ranked tennis player at the University of North Texas and has more than two decades of coaching experience. The pair have won numerous mixed doubles titles together.
