Nils Schyllander
Nils Schyllander has served the tennis program at the University of Oregon for 11 years and has seen the Ducks rise to the national level as the school’s director of tennis.
Schyllander has spent the past five seasons as head men’s tennis coach after a three-year stint as the women’s head coach.
Schyllander was elevated to the position thanks in large part to his success in building a quality women’s team that featured three players ranked in the top 25 in his last tenure. His excellence in recruiting and his innate ability to judge the talent of players and coaches puts the future of Oregon tennis into more than capable hands.
In the 2012 campaign, Schyllander guided the Ducks to 17 wins, the most since the 1994-95 season, including three victories over nationally ranked programs. Through UO's first 15 matches, the Ducks posted a remarkable record of 14-1. Oregon was ranked within the ITA top 75 for the entirety of the spring dual schedule, reaching as high as No. 38 on Mar. 5. During the season, Schyllander saw the No. 69 ranked doubles team of Robin Cambier and Jeff Mullen break the school record for wins with 28 against only four losses. Cambier also moved to second on Oregon's all-time best singles season list (24); Daniel Sardu was fifth with 22 and Alex Rovello was eighth on the list with 21 wins. Under Schyllander’s watchful eye, Cambier's impressive sophomore campaign included him earning UO's only Pac-12 Player of the Week honor for the week of March 5-11 in addition to him capping off the season with being named to the Pac-12’s honorable mention list.
Academically, UO had three tabbed to the Pac-12 All-Academic team. As a squad, Schyllander’s program was tabbed as an ITA-All Academic team with Sardu being named an ITA Scholar-Athlete.
A youth movement at the top of the lineup yielded strong results during the 2011 season. The Ducks finished with an 11-11 mark. This marked the first time Oregon has finished .500 or better for two-straight seasons since 1995. Freshmen Alex Rovello and Robin Cambier combined to go 39-28 in singles play with Rovello spending a portion of the season in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings.
Oregon also made headway in the Pac-10 Conference, scoring a 4-3 upset victory over No. 53 Arizona on March 27 to snap a 21-match losing streak against Pac-10 opponents, picking up its first league win since April 13, 2007. The win helped the Ducks finish sixth in the Pac-10 standings, their highest league finish since tying for fifth in 2000.
The 2010 season saw Schyllander guide UO to an 11-3 start that earned the Ducks national prominence as they ranked as high as 65th in the country. Oregon also saw senior Alexander Cornelissen close out his career in strong fashion, advancing to the final eight in singles play at the Pac-10 Championships. The Ducks’ 12-11 dual record was the program’s first winning record since 2002.
During 2008, Schyllander fielded a fairly young squad against some of the top competition in the nation. With a team built on a young sophomore class, the Ducks finished the season 11-14 overall. In his mission to make Oregon more competitive, first on Schyllander's checklist was to develop a stronger representation in doubles action. The work paid off, as the Ducks nearly doubled their match victories from 2007. In fact, the team won the doubles point in 14 of its 25 duals during the spring. Oregon's confidence on the doubles court culminated by winning the doubles point in back-to-back matches at No. 36 California (April 11) and No. 28 Stanford (April 12) in Pac-10 action.
The Ducks also increased the competitiveness of their schedule, playing 12 ranked opponents during 2008. In singles action, three players reached double-digit victories, while Marcos Verdasco received Pac-10 honorable mention accolades.
In 2006, Schyllander garnered the ITA/Wilson West Region Coach of the Year for his accomplishments in leading the Duck women to a 13-9 overall dual meet record and sending Dominika Dieskova to the NCAA Individual tournament as well as Ana Cecilia Olivos partnered with Dieskova to the NCAA doubles tournament.
In the 2004-05 season, Schyllander led the Ducks to a 17-9 record and a top 25 national ranking. The 17 wins were the program’s highest since the Pac-10 merged into a nine-team women’s tennis conference in 1997 and a seven-win improvement from 2002-03. The Ducks reached the second round of the NCAA Team Championships, falling to No. 9 Washington, 4-3. The bid marked the Ducks’ fourth postseason appearance in eight years. Individually, Schyllander has coached two All-Americans (Daria Panova, 2002-03, 2003-04 and Courtney Nagle, 2002-03) and sent four players to the NCAA Individual Championships (Panova, Nagle, Dominika Dieskova, Alina Wygonowska).
Prior to being named head coach, Schyllander was an assistant coach at Oregon for four years.
Schyllander originally came to Eugene after a stint in Aliso Viejo in southern California, mentoring four nationally-ranked junior players in one and a half years. Prior to that, he served as the Advanced Junior Tennis Director for the Sam Olsen Professional Academy, coordinating the administrative aspects of the program and traveling with his players to regional and national tournaments.
A former Northern Arizona University standout, Schyllander began his collegiate coaching career with the Lumberjacks as an assistant coach at Northern Arizona University during the 1995-96 season. He coordinated the team’s recruiting and practice components, and also oversaw opponent scouting and various administrative duties.
As a player, the two-time Big Sky Conference Honorable Mention selection was also voted the team’s MVP and Northern Arizona University’s men’s athlete of the year in 1995.
Prior to his arrival in Flagstaff, Ariz., Schyllander played one season at Saddleback College, receiving All-America recognition in 1993.
A native of Tessinkolan, Sweden, he graduated from high school in 1990 with an emphasis in Political Science. Afterwards, Schyllander served in the Swedish Royal Army in the Ammunition Transport Platoon through June, 1992.
Schyllander graduated from Northern Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and a minor in physical education.
Schyllander and his wife, Rebecca, have two daughters, Elin Elisabet (10/6/02) and Ida Eleonora (7/6/07).
