Neil Kenner is entering his third season (2017-18) at SMU. He was named assistant women's tennis coach in September 2015. Kenner joins the Mustangs after a decade of coaching high-level juniors in the Dallas area, and an impressive playing background.
Last season, Kenner played a key role in the helping SMU to a 17-7 record (3-0 American) and to the American Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Championship semifinals for the third straight season. Kenner was instrumental in helping the Mustangs to the most wins in a season since 2011 when SMU went 23-6 and advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Kenner helped the Mustangs reach a No. 43 ranking in the Oracle and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings (March 7). For the second consecutive season, the Mustangs named to the All-American Athletic Conference Women's Tennis team. Liza Buss and Sarai Monarrez Yesaki were two of the 15 selections named to the team as both Mustangs recorded 21 wins in singles play. Kenner was very helpful in the development of Buss and Yesaki. It was the first conference honor for Yesaki, while it was Buss second honor as she earned second-team All-Big 12 honors as a freshman at Iowa State in 2015.
Kenner's playing experience and expertise were instrumental in the development of the SMU women's tennis student-athletes during the 2015-16 season. Kenner helped guide the team to 14 victories and to the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship for the second-consecutive year. The team graduated two all-conference selections in Vaszilisza Bulgakova and Hristina Dishkova. It was the second consecutive All-AAC honor for Dishkova and the second conference honor in Bulgakova's career after being named to the Third Team All-CUSA in 2013.
Prior to SMU, Kenner started coaching a high-performance group of players who were rated on Tennis Recruiting as 4 Star, 5 Star, and Blue Chip status.
From 2010 through 2014, Kenner was the Director of the Elite Junior Program at Seay Tennis Center in Highland Park, TX. During that time, Kenner more than quadrupled the size of the program and was responsible for the hiring of 5 additional high-level coaches. Kenner also pioneered the prestigious early morning training sessions, in which the highest-level and most dedicated players were able to practice in a small group before school. In addition to his work with the juniors, Kenner was the head of Men’s Drills and a well-respected lead coach among several teams of ladies who participated in the TCD League at Seay.
From 2006 to 2010, Kenner was a teaching professional/high-performance coach at the prestigious TBarM Racquet Club in Dallas, TX. During this time, Kenner spent many of his hours alongside coach Dave Licker working closely with some of the top junior players in the world. Two of his heavily-influenced players were All-American and winningest player in the history Oklahoma University Dane Webb (led the team to consecutive NCAA Finals appearances) and current ATP professional player Mitchell Krueger (ranked as high as 225 ATP and 5 in the world in the Junior ITF Rankings).
Kenner competed professionally in Futures and Challengers throughout 2006 and 2007, reaching Finals of the Kenosha 10K with Jason Marshall. His better results, ironically, came later in life when he was well into his coaching career. While directing the Elite Program at Seay, Kenner teamed up with fellow Seay professional and former Northwestern standout Andrew McCarthy to capture the 2013 and 2014 TBarM $100,000 Challenger Wildcard title. Kenner and McCarthy exceeded expectations in the Main Draw of the 2014 $100,000 Challenger, defeating the #2 seeded team 6-1 6-2 and reaching the quarterfinals in front of over 1,000 local tennis fans. In 2015, Kenner teamed with current SMU player Nate Lammons to reach the finals of the Challenger Wildcard tournament. In July of 2015, Kenner teamed with his 17 year-old pupil Karina Traxler to capture the Mixed Doubles title of the U.S. Open Regional Qualifying Series, allowing them the opportunity to compete in the New Haven, CT, for a spot in the Main Draw of the 2015 U.S. Open.
In college, Kenner was the captain of the Indiana University Tennis Team. His freshman year, Kenner attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he was an All-American in singles and doubles and was named Washington University Freshman Athlete of the Year in 2003. Neil also received the Washington University Men’s Tennis Sportsmanship Award, and he was part of their most successful team at the time.
Kenner’s junior career got better as it went on, reaching a high of #1 in Texas in singles and doubles in the 18 and under division. He also received the USTA Texas Section Sportsmanship Award in 2002. Kenner was the captain of the J.J. Pearce High School Tennis Team, where he was a member of the National Honor Society and graduated in the top 10% of his class.
Kenner graduated from Indiana University with a double major in Marketing and Operations Management and a minor in Spanish.
