AUBURN, Ala. – Longtime Auburn men's tennis coach Eric Shore is one of three 2020 honorees being inducted into the USTA Alabama Tennis Hall of Fame in February.
Shore served as men's tennis coach at Auburn for 26 seasons, from 1991-2016. The winningest coach in the program's history, Shore compiled a 359-293 record, as Auburn made 20 NCAA Tournament appearances, including five Top 15 finishes. His teams made three Sweet 16 appearances and two Elite Eight appearances. Shore coached 20 All-America selections and 32 All-SEC honorees. In addition, 34 Tigers participated in NCAA singles and doubles championships during his tenure, including 2002 NCAA doubles champions Andrew Colombo and Mark Kovacs.
A number of his players have excelled in professional tennis as alumni, including 2005 Wimbledon doubles champion Stephen Huss and 2019 French Open doubles champion Andreas Mies.
"I'm quite honored to be recognized as part of the Alabama tennis hall of fame, especially because that group brings so much recognition to tennis throughout the state," Shore said. "I was fortunate over the years to have good players, which makes a coach successful. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to coach so many of those guys over the years."
"This honor is so well deserved," added current Auburn coach Bobby Reynolds. "Eric and what he's done here at Auburn speaks for itself -- all the wins, the NCAA appearances, he's had two Grand Slam winners – the record and his resume go so far. And the greatest thing is that wherever we go and play at any school, a coach, someone at the tennis facility or a member of the tennis community will find us and ask, 'How's Eric doing?' That speaks volumes about who he is as a person."
Other 2020 inductees are Greg Henderson and Charles "Flip" Phillips. Joyce Gurich will receive the Hubert Kessler Inspiration Cup. Induction ceremonies will be held February 15 at Vestavia Country Club in Birmingham; for more information, go to alabamata.usta.com.
The Auburn men's team returns home for tennis action Sunday, January 26 with matches against VCU (noon) and Alabama A&M (5 p.m.). All Auburn home tennis action is at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (771 Yarbrough Farms Blvd., Auburn) and admission is free.