University of Tennessee Athletics
Paul Annacone to be Inducted into ITA Hall of Fame
February 22, 2002 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 22, 2002
Former Vol Paul Annacone is to be inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame Wednesday, May 22, at the NCAA championships in College Station, Texas. Annacone, who played for the Vols during the 1982-84 seasons and was the ITA's player of the year in 1984, is one of six players and one coach to be enshrined in the 2002 class.
Annacone was a three-time All-SEC and All-America performer for the Big Orange, while posting a 115-22 career singles record. He won several championships during his college career, including the ITA Indoor singles championship in 1984, the SEC No.1 singles title in 1984 and the SEC doubles title in 1982.
Annacone still stands at No. 5 in all-time singles victories (115) for the Volunteers and No. 1 in career winning percentage (83.9%). His 51-3 record in 1984 garner him the all-time best winning percentage (minimum 30 matches) in a season for a Vol (94.4%) and the third most victories in a season.
After Annacone finished his days as a Vol, he continued on and had a distinguished career as a touring professional. His major accomplishments include a highest singles ranking of No. 12 in the world and No. 6 in the U.S. in 1985. He won the 1985 Australian Open doubles title with Christo Van Rensburg, was a finalist in doubles at the 1990 U.S. Open with David Wheaton, was a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team in 1986 and was a quarterfinalist in singles at Wimbledon in 1984.
Joining Annacone in the 2002 class is coach Bernis Duke of Oral Roberts (1967-99) and players Richard Harte of Harvard (1914-16), Julius Seligson of Lehigh (1928-1930), Erick Iskersky of Trinity (1977-79), Tim Mayotte of Stanford (1980-81) and Rick Leach of USC (1984-87).
The ITA Hall of Fame is
located at the Dan Magill Tennis Center on the University of Georgia campus.
