Women's Tennis Coaches

Wardlaw begins his eighth season coaching the women’s team at Brown University after seven record-breaking seasons at the University of Iowa. At Brown, Wardlaw has once again turned a stagnant program into one of the top programs in the region and nation, being named the 2009 ITA East Region Coach of the Year. Wardlaw’s formative coaching years took place at Kenyon College where his teams won three NCAA Division III National Championships in 1993, 1995 and 1997. Wardlaw earned Wilson/ITA Division III Coach of the Decade honors in 2001. Wardlaw is well known nationally and internationally for his tactical system called Directionals and for Pressure Tennis, his book that outlines a games-approach practice and training system.

Wardlaw’s Iowa teams went to the NCAA Tournament four times in his last six years there. His teams reached the Round of 16 in 1999 and the Round of 64 in each of the other seasons. Wardlaw's teams have consistently been ranked in the ITA Top 60, earning a #25 National Ranking in 1999 and a #42 Ranking his last year in 2004. In seven seasons from 1997–2004 with Iowa, Wardlaw complied an 83-78 record, helping the Hawkeyes become a well-prepared and formidable opponent.

Wardlaw joined Iowa after serving as the men's and women's tennis and women's soccer coach at Kenyon College (Ohio) for eight years (1989-1997). Kenyon women's tennis was the top Division III program in the nation and was throughout the 1990s. Wardlaw's teams entered four of the last five national tournaments as the No. 1 seed, winning three NCAA Division III National Championships. The team's consistent performance on the national level was the result of Wardlaw's sound recruiting and a comprehensive system of player and team development.

Wardlaw has received several accolades and is one of the most respected coaches in the country. He was named Wilson/ITA Division III Coach of the Decade in 2001 and Wilson/ITA Division III Coach of the Year in 1993. Wardlaw has had the opportunity to work with and share his coaching ideas and philosophies with the country's top coaches. Wardlaw has also become an accomplished author with the publication of Pressure Tennis. His book explains his practice and tactical system in detail and has influenced many professional, college, and junior coaches and players. The Wardlaw Directionals - Tactical Guidelines for Singles have been adopted by numerous professional players and top-level men and women's college programs as their tactical base. His video High Percentage Tennis explains Directionals in detail. He has also produced two other tennis drill videos.

Wardlaw and his wife, Katy, have two daughters, Alexandra, 21, and Natalie, 18. E-Mail Coach Wardlaw or Call 401-863-2104

Former Bears’ standout Bianca Aboubakare ’11 joined the Brown staff as an Assistant Women's Tennis Coach in August of 2012 after spending the previous year as the assistant coach for the men’s and women’s tennis programs at Wagner College.

A former three-time captain for the Bears, Aboubakare graduated in 2011 as the program’s all-time career leader with 97 singles wins, 79 doubles wins and 176 combined wins. Additionally, she and Cassandra Herzberg ’12 combined in 2009-10 to break the school record for doubles wins in a season by a team.  She also ranks among Brown’s all-time top-five for singles wins in a season (2^nd), doubles wins in a season (4^th), and combined wins in a season (4^th).

A three-time First Team All-Ivy selection in singles and a two-time First Team selection in doubles, Aboubakare was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year while also claiming Brown University Female Rookie of the Year honors in 2008. As a sophomore, she garnered the Rhode Island Female Athlete of the Year while earning First Team honors in both singles and doubles play for a second-straight year.

Aboubakare, who also served as the President of the Brown Student-Athlete Advisory Council, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology. She also was a member of the Athletic Organizational Review Committee and was named to the ITA All-Academic Team as a senior.