NEW YORK – Columbia women's tennis head coach Ilene Weintraub CC'02 announced the additions of Lucas Gueymard Wayenburg and Marco Kroes to the Lions' coaching staff ahead of the 2025–26 season. The duo bring a rare blend of ATP Tour coaching experience, collegiate excellence, and international tennis leadership.

Prior to joining Columbia, Gueymard Wayneburg served as an assistant coach to top ATP professionals, most notably working with French star Benjamin Bonzi, who reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 42 in 2023.  Lucas has also coached his younger brother rising French player Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg, who climbed to ATP No. 203 and won titles on both the Challenger and ITF circuits, including a Challenger doubles title partnering with Bonzi.

Gueymard Wayenburg's impact extends well beyond the pro tour. At Columbia, he coached Gayathri Krishnan to Ivy League Player of the Year honors and Malak El Allami to Northeast Regional Rookie of the year honors—one of the strongest individual seasons in program history—and helped multiple student-athletes earn First- and Second-Team All-Ivy recognition. His efforts directly contributed to Columbia's 2025 national ranking (#67), the highest among Ivy League programs in 2025.

"Lucas did a fantastic job last season, especially in his work with our top two players, Malak and Gayathri," Weintraub said. "He's a young, driven, up-and-coming coach who is fully committed to player development and recruiting, and he brings an all-in mentality to every aspect of the job. His playing background, collegiate team experience, ATP coaching experience, and upbringing in France—surrounded by some of Europe's top coaches—are real assets to our program, both now and as we look to the future."

An innovator in performance analysis, Gueymard Wayenburg integrates Gotta Tennis, a cutting-edge video and data platform, into his coaching—enhancing player development with actionable, analytics-based feedback. He is also the founder and tournament director of the Rognac ITF Futures Tournament in France, an ATP-point awarding event that has helped launch the careers of emerging professionals across Europe.

A former NCAA Division I player, Gueymard Wayenburg earned his MBA from Coastal Carolina University, where he competed as a top D1 player, earning a national ITA doubles ranking of #35. He previously played at Mercer University, earning All-Southern Conference honors in both singles and doubles in the #1 position.  

Fluent in French and English, Gueymard Wayenburg brings a global tennis perspective, elite technical acumen, and a relentless passion for player development.

Kroes joins the women's staff after helping guide the Columbia men's tennis program to its second consecutive Elite Eight appearance and the 2025 Ivy League Championship as the Columbia Men's Tennis Assistant Coach.  Kroes worked directly with junior Michael Zheng to help prepare him to win the 2025 NCAA Singles Championship.

Kroes came to Columbia after a successful career as a professional coach on the ATP Tour. Kroes is the first Olympic coach in the world to work for two countries at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo as he coached both the Netherlands and Belgium.
As a traveling ATP Tour coach, Kroes mentored, among other top players, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Rohan Bopanna and Wesley Koolhof.  Tsitsipas has achieved an ATP Singles career-high ranking of No. 3 in the world, while Bopanna and Koolhof each achieved ATP Doubles career-high rankings of No. 1 in the world.

During his career, Kroes has coached players to sixteen ATP Challenger Tour titles, 15 ATP World Tour Doubles finals and 6 ATP World Tour championships. Under Kroes' direction, Koolhof captured the doubles title at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2020 and Koolhof and Nikola Mektic were finalists at the 2020 US Open. The duo won the 2020 ATP Finals and finished the year at No. 3 in the doubles race. He has trained players at the sport's highest levels, including Wimbledon, Roland Garros, the US Open, and the Australian Open.

"Marco is an incredibly knowledgeable and capable coach with a tennis IQ that is off the charts," Weintraub said. "It's no surprise that he has coached players to victories at all four Grand Slams. Beyond his expertise, Marco's positivity, energy, and enthusiasm are contagious, and we're thrilled to have him join our program as our second assistant."

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