Former professional international tennis player Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez was selected as the next head coach of the Longwood men’s tennis program in December of 2017 and elevated to Director of Tennis following the departure of former women's tennis head coach Maria Lopez. In his Director of Tennis role, Medina Alvarez serves as head coach of both Longwood's men's and women's programs.
The director and owner of the JM Tennis Academy at Metro West Golf and Tennis Club, Alvarez was a long-time, highly-ranked professional that competed in the Venezuelan Davis Cup and at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open as a junior player.
In his first season at the helm of Longwood men's tennis, he saw a record four student-athletes earn All-Big South recognition as well as the program's first Big South Conference tournament win and semifinals appearance. That feat was accomplished thanks to a 3-1 comeback against rival Liberty as junior Julian Farthing's walkoff three-set match clinched the historic victory.
The Lancers have seen milestone after milestone the past two seasons as Medina Alvarez continued to elevate an already rising program. He oversaw the program's first multi-Big South Freshman of the Week award winner as well as the program's first player to reach 50 singles wins in just two seasons.
Medina Alvarez' 2017-18 Lancers collected 13 wins, the first time the program has 13-plus wins in back-to-back seasons after the squad set the record with 14 the previous campaign.
Medina Alvarez enjoyed a decorated playing career, achieving ITF Junior rankings of No. 29 in singles and No. 39 in doubles, along with ATP World Rankings of No. 370 in singles and No. 458 in doubles. He won eight gold medals and five silver medals at the Venezuela National Games, two bronze medals at the Central American Games and won several future titles as well in Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador and Italy.
A let-handed specialist, Medina Alvarez was a 2015 USTA Men's National Champion and 2017 USTA Men's National Finalist. Medina Alvarez is also fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
The fourth coach of the Longwood men’s program in the institution’s Division I era, Alvarez will took over for 2017 Big South Coach of the Year Pierre Tafelski.
Following his professional playing days, Medina Alvarez moved on to the private sector of coaching. At the JM Tennis Academy, he was responsible for creating and overseeing all tennis programs and activities, coaching high-level junior and tour-level adult players, creating instructional programs, coordinating schedules for all courts and coaching four women’s tennis teams at Metro West. As the director and owner of the JM Tennis Academy, Medina Alvarez was head coach for the W.A.I.T. League women’s tennis, which offers clinics to accommodate various levels of tennis.
Medina Alvarez also has experience as an assistant coach at the Bay Hill Golf & Lodge where he ran private lessons, group clinics and youth academies.
Before his time in the Sunshine State of Florida at the JM Tennis Academy and Bay Hill, Medina Alvarez worked at the prestigious Euro Tennis Academy – a top-ranked academy that caters to adults and youth of various tennis skill levels.
Medina Alvarez also oversaw The Jhonnatan Medina Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization in Caracas, Venezuela, established to help adults, youths and tennis players without economic resources desiring to learn and train in the sport of tennis.
Throughout his professional career, Medina Alvarez has intensive advanced tennis training with legendary coaches including Raul Viver, Ruben Puerta, Juan Carlos Bianchi, Jimmy Zsymanky, Pedro Posada, Jorge Todero, Pedro Blanco and the Chris Evert Tennis Academy.
Medina Alvarez’s first team at Longwood will feature a stacked lineup led by reigning Big South Freshman of the Year Amadeo Blasco, who enters the spring season as the No. 122 player in the nation after becoming the first Lancer to compete in the ITA Atlantic Regional quarterfinals. Blasco headlines a young squad that made its first Big South quarterfinals appearance last season and continued that success with a five flight championships over three fall tournaments this year.
Joining Blasco in the potent lineup are fall tournament champions Julian Farthing – who already sits in the top-10 all-time wins list as a junior and Raisei Sakai – who spent much of the fall season near the top of the rotation while serving as Blasco’s doubles partner.
Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez Professional Highlights:
- Reached Junior ITF World Tour Ranks of #29 in singles and #39 in doubles
- Spent 9 years traveling and playing in ATP Tour, ranking #370 in singles and #458 in doubles
- Played in 26 career ATP Tour Finals with 7 career titles
- Played in main draw of Wimbledon, US Open and French Open
- Won 8 Gold, 5 Silver Medals at Venezuelan National Games with Venezuelan Team at the Davis Cup
- 2015 USTA National Men's Champion
- 2017 USTA Nationa Men's Finalist
