Nika Kukharchuk enters her third season on the Columbia women’s tennis staff as the assistant coach following a 12-year professional playing career. She reached a career high WTA singles ranking of No. 371 and WTA doubles ranking of No. 350. Along the way, Kukharchuk also won three ITF professional singles tournaments, four doubles tournaments, and made numerous finals. Kukharchuk also brings 15 years of teaching and coaching experience to Columbia.
The 2024 season saw the Lions contend for an Ivy League title as Columbia finished second in the final standings. Columbia started the season with a 10-2 record that vaulted the Lions into the ITA Top 25 for just the second time in program history. As part of the path to a No. 25 ranking, Columbia defeated Kentucky for its first win in program history against a team from the SEC. The Lions then defeated Dartmouth, Brown and Yale to win the ECAC Championship. Columbia went on to defeat Cornell, Penn, Dartmouth, Yale and Brown during Ivy League action as the Lions finished second in the league and fell just short of an NCAA Tournament bid. Columbia finished the season at No. 45 in the ITA rankings.
Between 2018-2021, Kukharchuk served as the travel coach for one of the top juniors in the world. Nika traveled to numerous ITF events (including junior Grand Slams), USTA, and UTR tournaments where her primary responsibility was player development including on court coaching, match preparation, and analysis. Under Kukharchuk's direction, her player earned a Top 30 ITF junior world ranking, gained entry into junior Grand Slams and won multiple events.
Kukharchuk also served as an official practice/hitting partner for numerous players (men and women) at the US Open in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Kukharchuk is a Senior Tennis Professional at Grand Slam Tennis Club in Bedford, N.Y. where she has worked since 2013. Prior to Grand Slam she served as tennis professional and travel coach at Hardscrabble club in Brewster, N.Y. from 2008-2013.
Kukharchuk holds a BA in finance (2007) and an MBA (2008) from the University of Mississippi where she was a member of the Ole Miss Women's Tennis team from 2004-2008. She was a team captain her senior year, ranked No. 26 in doubles and No. 59 in singles and was named SEC (Southeastern Conference) player of the week in 2008. Kukharchuk was instrumental in the team becoming SEC Western Division Champions in 2005 for the first time in the program history. Kukharchuk was also named to the ESPN Magazine Academic All-District VI second at-large team.
Prior to attending Ole Miss, Kukharchuk was ranked No. 3 nationally in 16U in Russia, where she was born.
