Chris Wootton Named Assistant Coach for Houston Tennis

HOUSTON – Former Division I head coach Chris Wootton joins the University of Houston Tennis program as an assistant coach, head coach Katarina Adamovic announced Friday.

I'm beyond excited to welcome Chris Wootton to our staff at the University of Houston, Adamovic said. Having worked alongside him before, I know firsthand the integrity, energy, and experience he brings. He's elite in player development, a strong recruiter, a passionate coach and someone who genuinely connects with student-athletes. We're building something special here in Houston, and Chris is the perfect fit to help take this program to the next level.

Wootton brings a decade's worth of collegiate coaching experience with stops at Williams College, USC, Missouri and most recently at UT Tyler. He brings over three decades of overall coaching expertise.

I want to thank Director of Athletics, Eddie Nuñez and Head Coach Katarina Adamovic for this incredible opportunity to join the Houston Cougar family, Wootton said. I am excited for the present and future of the women's tennis program. There is no limit of what can be achieved in the next few years with this new look Houston Cougar tennis program. It is an honor and privilege to join the elite company of all the great coaches and administrators at the University of Houston.

Wootton joins the Cougar coaching staff after a two-year stint as the associate head coach at UT Tyler where he helped revamp the women's program from a six-win season in 2024 to an 18-win campaign in 2025. While coaching both the men's and women's program, Wootton helped No. 1 singles player, Muskan Gupta, to NCAA All-America status and led the men's program to its first Lone Star Conference tournament title in school history.

Three student-athletes earned All-America honors in his first season in Tyler.

Before arriving in Tyler, Wootton spent four seasons at Missouri. He spent the 2019-20 season as the associate head coach helping Serena Nash and Gabrielle Goldin to a No. 58 ITA doubles ranking.

During the 2020-21 season, Wootton was elevated to interim head coach, guiding the Tigers to their first Southeastern Conference victory in four years. He coached Bronte Murgett to the school's singles win in the NCAA Championships and led the Tigers to a No. 36 ITA ranking, up over 100 spots.

Wootton's interim tag was removed before the 2021-22 season where he recruited and signed program-record recruiting classes with players ranked No. 57, 209, 287, 337 and 430 in the ITF World Junior rankings. Adamovic was an assistant coach on staff and for the first time in school history, two American blue-chip players signed to play for Missouri.

Prior to his time in Columbia, Missouri, Wootton spent two seasons as an assistant coach at USC where he helped elevate the program form a No. 52 ITA rank to No. 11 in just two seasons. In his time in Hollywood, Wootton led No. 1 ranked doubles pair Angela Kulikov and Rianna Valdez to the NCAA Doubles Semifinals in 2019 while coaching Gabby Smith to All-America honors.

Wootton got his start as a collegiate coach as an assistant at Williams College where he helped Julia Raventos, Linda Shin, Julia Cancio, Leah Bush and Guilia McDonnell to All-American status in his first year.
In 2016-17, Wootten led Williams College to 20 wins, the New England Small College Athletic Conference title, and the 2017 Division III Team National Championship.

Before becoming a collegiate coach, Wootton competed for Mississippi College (2011-13) and the University of Texas at Tyler (2013-15), where he earned his master's degree in business administration. In 2015, Wootton captured All-America honors in doubles at the age of 39, becoming the oldest All-American in NCAA history in any sport across all divisions.

Between 1995 and 2011, Wootton coached over 50 NCAA college tennis players and over 20 ATP/WTA touring pros. He also played professionally for six years, collecting singles and doubles wins over top-100 ATP players.

Wootton and his wife, Robin, have two daughters, Christiane (22) and Isabel (19).

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