Men's Tennis
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- heinchons@ecu.edu
- Phone:
- (252) 737-1421
Behind his work ethic, attention to detail, recruiting efforts and increased seasonal win totals, the ECU men’s tennis program was taken to record heights under the stewardship of head coach Shawn Heinchon.
Heinchon completed his 16th year overall, 15th as head coach and he stands alone as the winningest coach in Pirate history. Heinchon led ECU to a 224-150 (.599) record as head coach, which is both the most wins by a Pirate coach as well as the highest winning percentage by a coach with at least 55 matches coached. Prior to Heinchon’s arrival, the Pirates had 17 seasons with a winning percentage above .500, while Heinchon’s squads achieved that feat 11 times in 16 seasons, including a school-record seven straight years from 2008 to 2014. Heinchon helped guide ECU to a school-record 22 wins in 2018, the first time in program history that the Pirates had won at least 20 matches.
Heinchon’s teams have been nationally recognized during his tenure. Joran Vliegen became the first Pirate to earn a spot in the ITA National Singles Poll, climbing as far as No. 13 during the 2013-14 season. Vliegen was also ranked in the ITA Doubles Poll, teaming with Collin Roller. Vliegen and Roller were ranked during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 campaigns, reaching as high as No. 30. The pair were the first ECU players to earn berths in the NCAA Doubles Championship, doing so in 2013. Vliegen finished his ECU career in 2014 by becoming the first Pirate to be named the Conference USA Player of the Year as well as earning a spot in the NCAA Singles Championship. Most recently, Diogo Marques became the third Pirate to be nationally ranked when he was ranked No. 103 in the ITA Singles Poll during the 2019-20 season.
The Pirates’ success is not limited to on the court. During Heinchon’s time in Greenville, ECU was awarded the top academic award for its conference on three occasions. The Pirates were awarded Conference USA’s Academic Award following the 2008-09 campaign and the 2010-11 season. ECU also won the American Athletic Conference Academic Award for the 2018-19 season.
The 2019-20 campaign was shaping up to be one of ECU’s best, as the Pirates had amassed an 11-2 record, including 8-0 at home. However, the season was cut short by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Despite the premature ending, Heinchon’s squad continued its upward trajectory. The Pirates saw sophomore Diogo Marques start the fall season 8-0, earning him the AAC Tennis Player of the Month in September and earning the No. 103 ranking in the ITA’s national singles ranking. Marques is the first Pirate to earn a player of the month award since ECU moved to the AAC in 2014 and is just the third Pirate in program history to earn a national singles ranking. Simon Labbe and Agustin Tamagnone also had a successful fall, becoming the first ECU doubles tandem to reach the ITA Carolina Regional Quarterfinals since 2016.
As a team, ECU has also now won 13 straight matches at home as well as 28 of its 30 home contests since the start of the 2017-18 season. Heinchon has also now guided ECU to four consecutive winning seasons, the second-longest streak during his tenure as well as the second-longest stretch in school history.
The 2018-19 season saw ECU finish with a winning record (14-7) for the third consecutive campaign. With 52 wins in those three seasons, that is the most over a three-year span in program history. The Pirates were dominant at home, going 8-1 there, which helped power a 10-1 start to the season. Heinchon helped usher Diogo Marques to one of the best rookie seasons in program history, as Marques finished with a 19-11 mark, including 7-5 on court one. Â
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Along with the success with the team in Greenville, Heinchon also saw continued success for former Pirate Joran Vliegen. Vliegen, who played under Heinchon from 2011-14 and was the first ECU player to be nationally ranked in singles as well as earn a berth in the NCAA Singles Championship, played deep into a pair of Grand Slam Championships. Vliegen reached a new career-peak when he reached the doubles quarterfinals of the French Open and then followed it up with a berth in the third round of Wimbledon. Vliegen is the first Pirate to win multiple matches in a Grand Slam event.
During the 2017-18 campaign, Heinchon led the Pirates to a program record 22 victories, surpassing the record of 19 established by his 2009 squad. ECU opened the season with an 8-3 record then won 10 in a row before finishing with four wins in its final six dual matches. Three players won 20 or more singles matches led by Javier Renones' 24 victories. Renones' teamed with Wisse Jonker to post a 17-2 doubles record and helped ECU reach the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship for the third straight season.
In 2015-16, the Pirates made quarterfinal appearance in the conference tournament after a 4-1 victory over ninth-seeded Connecticut. Five players recorded at least 15 singles wins for the year, while sophomore Kasey Countee and junior Fredric Lehfeldt led the team with 19 apiece. Freshman Ronny Georgi compiled an impressive 17-8 individual mark that included a streak of 10-straight victories and 12 of 13 from the conclusion of the fall season crossing over into dual matches during the spring.
The 2013-14 season was memorable for how both team and individual player success is measured, as Heinchon guided the Pirates to an 18-7 overall record, a nine-match winning streak in the middle of the season and a semifinal appearance at the Conference USA Championships. Joran Vliegen was named the 2014 C-USA Player-of-the-Year and was ranked as high as No. 13 nationally, before becoming the first player in school history to be selected to the NCAA Singles Championship where he reached the second round.
ECU posted six consecutive winning dual match campaigns from 2009-14, winning 97 matches against 48 defeats. Its the only time in program history that the Pirates have posted more than three straight winning seasons.
Despite featuring only one senior on their roster in 2009, the Pirates raced out to a 16-1 record and earned a pair of appearances in the national rankings as it cracked the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I Poll for the first time in program history. When the sun finally set on the '09 campaign, Heinchon's team established a school record for single-season victories with a 19-5 mark, surpassing the previous standard of 16 that was set in 1957 and 2000.
The 2008 campaign featured an early optimistic glimpse at the future of the ECU men's tennis program as the Pirates notched their first winning dual match record since 2004 with a 13-12 ledger. Heinchon led a strong charge out of the gate which enabled the Pirates to rack up victories in 12 of its first 18 matches.
In the spring of 2006, Heinchon continued his diligent work changing the culture of Pirate Tennis with a young unit that posted one of its best win totals in the five previous years. He followed with a 10-win campaign a year later, the second-highest number of triumphs since 2002, despite lining up with five true freshmen.
During his initial season at ECU, Heinchon made an impact piloting the men's squad as a top aide and was subsequently rewarded with his first career collegiate head coaching opportunity. In addition to leading the Pirates to four wins in their last seven matches and a double-digit win total, he also mentored senior Paulo Baumer to All-Conference USA honors - which marked only the second men's tennis player ever at ECU to earn league post-season accolades.
From 1998 to 2004, during his stay at Wake Forest, Heinchon was an integral part of arguably the finest seasons in the Demon Deacons' history. He helped the transformation of a WFU program which now consistently resides in the Top 25 rankings after a stretch of four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (2001-2004).The Demon Deacons captured 79 dual match wins during his six-year stay in Winston-Salem, including three over Top 10 opponents. Additionally, he worked directly with 10 All-Atlantic Coast Conference players, two ACC Rookie-of-the-Year selections and six NCAA participants.
In addition to his daily coaching responsibilities at Wake Forest, which included recruiting, budget management, travel coordination, marketing and operations, Heinchon also served as tournament director for two prestigious events - the ACC Indoor Championships (1999-2004) and the USTA National 16 Zonal Championships (2000-2004).
For his efforts, he was named Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regional Assistant Coach-of-the-Year and was a finalist for the National ITA Assistant Coach-of-the-Year in 2002.
Prior to accepting the position at Wake Forest, Heinchon traveled extensively as a coach on the women's professional tour. He also coached several top-ranked American women's players who went on to compete at the NCAA Division I level, two of which played on Georgia's 2000 National Championship squad.
Heinchon spent four years as Head Professional Instructor at Bardmoor Country Club (1996-98) and Bardmoor Stearns Academy (1994-1996), both located in Largo, Fla., where he oversaw private individual and group instruction for adults and junior players. He also planned and conducted camps for highly-ranked players as well as coached players in local and national tournaments.
As a player, Heinchon was a former top five junior player in the state of Florida, competing in numerous national and international tournaments. He also earned all-state and all-district honors in singles and doubles at Thom Howard (Fla.) High School as a senior in 1989.
A 1993 graduate of Southwestern Louisiana, Heinchon was a four-year starter in singles and doubles and helped his team to the 1992 Sunbelt Conference championship. After graduation, Heinchon competed on the ATP satellite circuit from 1993-96, primarily traveling and competing in Europe.
Heinchon married the former Meghan Molnar of Binghamton, N.Y., during the spring of 2008.
