Ricardo Gonzalez - Men's Tennis Coach - Florida Atlantic University Athletics

Photo by: ©JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Ricardo Gonzalez

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
rgonzalez@fau.edu
Phone:
561-297-2232

Ricardo Gonzalez joined the Owls in 2012 as a volunteer men's assistant coach. He was elevated the following season to head men's coach and in 2021 assumed the Director of Tennis title.

The University of Georgia alumni had double-digit victories in nine of the 13 years that he has served at the helm of the men's program and one single digit-win season was the shortened COVID year of 2020. His highest win total, on the men's side, is 19 and he has accomplished that milestone three times. Since 2016-17 and not counting the shortened season, the Owls have hovered close to 20 wins each year.

On the women's side, the first led Gonzalez tallied 13 wins in 2021-22. They repeated the 13 win mark in 2023-24 and soared to a program high in 2024-25 with a No. 27 national ranking, a perfect 15-0 regular season, and the program's first trip to the NCAA since 2005. The Owls captured round one, but fell to a No. 8 ranked Duke in the second round to finish the year at 17-2. Three players earned All-AAC honors in Panna Bartha, Victoria Gomez O'Hayon and Lexi Silna.

2025 was a rebuilding year for the men's team, who played much of the season with just one upperclassman and finished the year with two. The Owls finished the year in the AAC semifinal match and saw captain John Bernard play much of the year holding a national ranking and the team hovered in the nation's top 60.

2023 was a year that saw the Owls men's team finish with a 13-11 record despite playing 10 ranked teams. FAU fell in the semifinal match to No. 41 UTSA. In 2024, the men were older and more experienced celebrated a 16-7 record while earning a No. 45 national rank. Ultimately, the Owls fell in the AAC quarterfinals playing their first season as a member of the American Athletic Conference.

FAU opened the fall of 2022 with a double ITS South Regional win by Nicola Acevedo and Filip Krolo to build momentum heading into the spring. That duo represented FAU at the fall national tournament. The Owls then played in the ITA Kickoff Weekend, hosted by the University of Texas, where they faced #14 Arizona and #22 Cal. The Owls advanced to the semifinals of the C-USA championship where they would fall to #41 UTSA by a 4-3 score. The women's squad lost just one player from the previous season but their strength of schedule increased exponentially allowing more opportunity for the players to test their skills. FAU's women's team faced four ranked opponents and traveled to Arizona for the ITA tournament for the first time.

In 2022, the Owls tallied 18 wins, one shy of Gonzalez high. Strength of schedule came into play with Florida Atlantic traveling to California and to Army. The fall schedule was a blend of ITA and local individual tournaments. In that same year, Gonzalez became the director of tennis and took over the women's program. The Owls would post 13 wins and 11 losses that season.

Despite all the ups and downs (and stops and starts) of 2021, Gonzalez still led the Owls to a 9-11 mark, as high as a No. 55 national ranking, and the team advanced to the C-USA semifinal round. Individually, Kevin Huempfner was named Newcomer of the Year - the program's third in a row - while Maxime Lapraille and Filip Krolo earned Second Team All-C-USA honors in singles and doubles.

The 2020 season ended in early March after just 16 matches. The Owls continued their success at home with a 4-1 mark, and Maxime Lapraille was both Co-C-USA Newcomer of the Year and a member of the Second Team All-C-USA singles team.

In the 2019 spring season, FAU was ranked as high as No. 45 in the Oracle/ITA Division I Men's Tennis Rankings, the program's highest national showing in nearly two decades, and the top ranking in Gonzalez's tenure. Along the way, the team had a seven-match winning streak, a flawless 9-0 record at the FAU Tennis Complex, and earned the No. 1 seed in the C-USA Championship. The Owls would go on to advance to the C-USA finals for the second straight year. Individually, seven Owls individuals earned All-C-USA honors, including Newcomer of the Year Mehdi Laalej.

Prior to coming to Boca Raton, Gonzalez's coaching career included being an assistant coach at Davidson College from 2010-11, as well as five years experience with numerous tennis academies like the Smith Steams Tennis Academy and Chris Evert Tennis Academy. He also has been the private coach for Maria Alvarez, a top 10 ITF junior and top 130 WTA professional between 2011-17. Alvarez has now joined the Owls as an assistant coach primarily working with the women's team since 2022.

During his playing career, Gonzalez was a team captain for Georgia's 2007 Division I national championship-winning squad. Individually, he earned a top-80 ranking in the International Tennis Federation, while also participating in the U.S. Open during his playing career. He was ranked as high as No. 4 in the United States Tennis Association and was No. 1 in Puerto Rico, while also being a member of the Puerto Rican Davis Cup team for seven years.

Gonzalez’s Year-by-Year Results

Season	Men's Record	Men's Winning Pct.	Note	Women's Record	Women's Winning Pct.	Women's Note
2012-13	8-14	.364			.
2013-14	10-11	.467
2014-15	13-8	.619
2015-16	9-13	.409
2016-17	17-7	.708
2017-18	19-10	.655	C-USA Finals
2018-19	19-10	.655	C-USA Finals
2019-20	5-11	.312	COVID shortened season
2020-21	19-11	.633	C-USA Semifinals
2021-22	18-6	.750	C-USA Semifinals	13-11	.542	C-USA Semifinals
2022-23	13-11	.542	C-USA Semifinals	8-14	.364	C-USA Quarter Finals
2023-24	16-7	.696	AAC Quarterfinals	13-9	.591	AAC Quarter Finals
2024-25	11-9	.542	AAC Semifinals	17-2	.895	AAC Semifinals
Total	177-128	.580		51-36	.586