Women's Tennis
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- mprata@utk.edu
Former Tennessee men’s tennis standout Martim Prata joined the coaching staff in May of 2025. Prata comes back to Rocky Top after serving as a graduate assistant for the LSU men’s tennis program.
“The University of Tennessee is an amazing place to be a student-athlete and a coach,” head coach Alison Ojeda said. “Martim Prata is about to find out that being able to do both is a dream come true. The University of Tennessee is about to find out just how great of a recruiter and coach Martim is!”
Prata spent the past two seasons with the Tigers under the leadership of head men’s tennis coach Danny Bryan. Prata helped to coach the team to the 2024 SEC semifinals, its first such berth since 2007 and to the 2024 NCAA Tournament. During the 2024 season, the average attendance for LSU's conference matches increased by 241.5 percent.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Alison and the University of Tennessee for trusting me with this opportunity to serve as the women’s tennis assistant coach,” Prata said. “As a former student-athlete who proudly wore the orange and white, it’s truly an honor to return to Rocky Top. This place shaped me both on and off the court, and I’m thrilled to be back. I am ready to give my all for the next generation of Lady Vols.”
As a player at Tennessee (2019-2023), Prata earned a career record of 70-51 in singles play and a 55-32 mark in doubles. He picked up 10 ranked singles win and five ranked doubles wins throughout his college career.
While in Knoxville, Prata was a key member of the team. As a junior in 2022, he led the Volunteers to victory in the SEC Championship, at which he was named SEC Tournament MVP and to the SEC All-Tournament Team. Prata earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Singles Tournament in 2022, reaching the second round, and climbed as high as No. 28 in the ITA rankings. In 2021, he also guided Tennessee to an SEC Championship.
“I had the privilege of watching Martim compete and seeing how he went about his day-to-day business as a student athlete,” Ojeda added. “He was excellent in the way he treated his teammates and coaches, the way he respected those around him and the way he took care of his body. He managed the day-to-day pressure and excitement that comes with being a top-10 program. He’s outstanding and I am so excited he is going to join our program. I believe he is going to help take our recruiting to another level.”
Prata helped the program advance to the NCAA Final Four in both 2021 and 2022. He also aided the team to the 2022 ITA National Indoor Championship title match. During that same 2022 campaign, the program reached the No. 1 spot in the ITA rankings.
Prata picked up the honors in the classroom as well. He was a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and an ITA Scholar Athlete.
Outside of his collegiate career, Prata has seen success on the court. He was a Two-time 18U Portugal Singles National Champion. Additionally, he qualified for the main draw of the Portugal F21 Futures tournament in São Bras de Alportel. During the tournament, he advanced to his first professional singles quarterfinal with two victories in the main draw.
Prata, who has a career-high doubles ranking of 33, is a five-time doubles semifinalist at the ITF Futures level. In 2022, he competed in two professional tournaments, Portugal 25k and Idanha-a-Nova. He secured a doubles title at the Portugal 25k.
