Amanda Augustus to Lead U.S. Team in France

BERKELEY – Amanda Augustus is returning to France.

California’s women’s tennis head coach will coach on the U.S. team competing in the ninth annual Master’U BNP Paribas collegiate tournament from Dec. 4-7 in Rennes, France. This marks the third consecutive year in which Augustus earned a spot as one of two coaches on the U.S. staff.

“I’m honored that the USTA asked me to go back to France to coach the U.S. team,” Augustus said. “It’s going to be in a new city this year, so I’ll be excited to go to Rennes.”

The eight-team tournament consists of the United States, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and Russia. The team that scores the most points after playing in seven matches – two women’s singles, two men’s singles, one women’s doubles, one men’s doubles and one mixed doubles – claims the championship.

The United States has won the tournament four times – in each of the last three years (2011-13) and in 2009.

The U.S. team consists of six student-athletes and two head coaches, including Greg Patton, the Boise State men’s tennis coach. The three women’s players on the U.S. squad are Virginia’s Julia Elbaba and UCLA’s Robin Anderson and Chanelle Van Nguyen. On Nov. 9, Elbaba defeated Cal’s Maegan Manasse in the singles final at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. The three U.S. men’s players are Virginia’s Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, Wake Forest’s Noah Rubin and Georgia’s Nathan Pasha.

“We’ve got the All-American champion in Robin Anderson, the All-American finalist in Chanelle Van Nguyen and the indoor champion Julia Elbaba, so on the women’s side I think we have a really strong contingent,” Augustus said. “It’s always great to be able to represent your country. In a way I feel like I’m giving back to U.S. tennis, which has done a lot for me in my career as a player and a coach. Hopefully we’ll have a successful trip.

"I’m looking forward to the experience both tennis-wise and culturally for the team. I really enjoy working with coach Patton. We coach well together. I’m sure we’ll have a great trip and try to bring the gold back to the U.S. for the third year in a row.”

Augustus added, “One of the things I really appreciate about the event is that the French are really passionate about tennis, and they run a really high-quality event. They treat the players really well. The umpires and tournament organizers are tour-level chairs and officials. It’s just really well run.”

This year the U.S. team will fly to France after Thanksgiving, which it spent in Aix-en-Provence for the tournament last year.

“I’m glad that I’m not going to have to miss Thanksgiving this year,” Augustus said. “We tried to have a pretend Thanksgiving last year in France, which was not that easy.”

Augustus will lead the Golden Bears into the New Year in Maui, Hawaii, where they will play in the Hawaii Invitational from Jan. 8-10.