Diego Benitez returns for his fourth year as the head coach of both the men's and women's tennis programs at UT Arlington. Benitez is coming off a successful 2009 season where he was named the 2009 Women's Tennis Coach of the Year as he led the Mavericks to a 17-7 overall record including an undefeated 11-0 SLC mark and a Southland Conference title. The conference championship was only the fifth in UTA women's tennis program history.
The Mavs undefeated conference record is accredited to the combination coaching of Benitez and former assistant coach Younes Limam, who helped lead three of five newcomers to 10-plus singles and doubles victories.
After blowing by all three of their opponents in the SLC Tournament, UT Arlington faced No. 4 Baylor in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships in Waco, Texas where they suffered a hard fought 4-0 setback to the Bears.
Benitez had three players earn SLC Player of the Week honors and led three freshmen to All-SLC accolades including first team All-SLC honoree, Maria Martinez-Romer who led the team with 37 total wins.
On the men's side, the Mavericks made their 13th tournament appearance as the No. 4 seed and UTA's No. 1 singles player-Mindaugas Celedinas was named the 2009 SLC Freshman of the Year. Celedinas is only the third Maverick in men's tennis history to earn the recognition.
Celedinas along with Gonzalo Bienzobas and David Subirats earned post-season honors and three were recognized as SLC Players of the Week.
In his first season at UTA, Benitez led the men's squad to their sixth Southland Conference Tournament title and a 13-8 overall record in 2006.
Benitez led the men's squad to the semifinals in the Southland Conference Tournament and a 9-13 overall record in 2008.
As the head coach of the women's squad, Benitez led the Lady Mavericks to a 7-12 overall record, including a 6-5 mark in league play and guided two newcomers to the women's All-Southland Conference Team.
In 2004, Benitez guided senior David Corrie as he climbed as high as No. 21 in the national rankings and was honored as the Southland Conference's men's tennis Player of the Year.
Prior to joining the Maverick coaching staff, Benitez spent a year as the Director and General Manager of the Boca Raton Tennis Program, and as the head coach and coordinator of the Radical Tennis Juan Nunez Academy in Boca Raton, Florida.
During his time in Florida, Benitez contributed to the development of young players while also training current professional players competing on the ATP and WTA tours.
Prior to his stint in Boca Raton, Benitez served as the head men's and women's coach at Texas Wesleyan University from 2000-2001.
Benitez's playing career consisted of two years on the professional circuit after closing out his four-year collegiate career at Texas Wesleyan. While at Texas Wesleyan, he led his squad to one national tournament and two regional playoffs.
Prior to coming to the United States, the Caracas, Venezuela native competed on the South America-Europe International Tennis Federation Circuit for three years. Benitez was among the top-20 nationally ranked singles players in his native country.
