Alex Dorato, The Cary Leeds Coach of Men’s Tennis.
Alex Dorato begins his 15th year as the head coach of the Yale men's tennis program. In his first year as head coach Dorato's team won an EITA co-championship, and set the school record for most wins in a season at 19. It was Yale’s first EITA title since 1967. His 2001 team tied the school record for most wins with an identical 19-5 record. Dorato led his 2002 team to its first ECAC Team Championship final since 1977.
In 7 of his 14 years at the helm Dorato has taken his #1 player to the NCAA Championship. In 2002 his top doubles duo also qualified for the NCAA Championships. In 2001 Steve Berke became the first unranked male player in history to reach the NCAA quarterfinals. Jonathan Beardsley '99 stunned the ninth seed in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in 1998.
Alex Dorato was awarded the 2005 U.S.P.T.A. New England Western Pro of the Year, the 2001 Wilson/ITA Region I Coach of the Year, and the 2001 Jack Barnaby Coach of the Year by the U.S.P.T.A. New England Division. He has compiled a 179-146 record as head coach for the Bulldogs.
Dorato’s teams have also excelled academically. In 2003 and 2004 Dorato’s team led the nation with 9 ITA Scholar-Athletes (3.5+ GPA), and in 2005 and 2006 they were second in the nation with 6 ITA Scholar-Athletes. They have won the ITA All-Academic Team Award (team GPA 3.2+) for the 11th straight year (since its inception in 1996). His players have also won numerous academic awards including both a Fulbright Scholarship and two Rhodes Scholarships.
Dorato spent seven years (1986-92) as the associate men’s tennis coach and the assistant women’s coach at Yale.
Dorato, only the fourth head coach of Yale men’s tennis, was a high school All-American in Albuquerque, N.M., before lettering at the University of New Mexico form 1979-1982. In 1986 he was ranked first in the men’s open division of the New England USPTA.
