David Witt

For the Australian sailor, see David Witt (sailor).

David Witt (born June 2, 1973) is an American tennis coach and former professional player. He is currently coaching Frances Tiafoe and is best known as the former long-time coach of Venus Williams and Jessica Pegula. He enjoyed a successful junior career, during which time he won the USTA Boys' 16s Clay, Hard and National Championships and was the top-ranked under-16 in the USTA in 1989.^[1] He was also a semifinalist at the US Open Junior Boys Singles event in 1991.^[2]

David Witt

Witt in 2024
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, U.S.
Born	(1973-06-02) June 2, 1973 (age 52) High Point, North Carolina, U.S.
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro	1991
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	US$ 295,543
Singles
Career record	15–23
Career titles	0 2 Challenger, 0 Futures
Highest ranking	No. 128 (8 November 1993)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	1R (1998)
French Open	Q3 (1994)
Wimbledon	1R (1994)
US Open	2R (1994)
Doubles
Career record	13–17
Career titles	0 2 Challenger, 0 Futures
Highest ranking	No. 157 (22 August 1994)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	1R (1994)
Wimbledon	Q3 (1993)
US Open	3R (1993)

Career

His closest career win on the main tour was in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, where he and Brian MacPhie were runners-up in the doubles in 1994. He did win two challenger-level events in his career: Guadalajara, Mexico in 1992 and the Levene Gouldin & Thompson Tennis Challenger at Binghamton, New York in 1997. He retired from professional tennis in 2005.

Coaching

In 2002, while working as the resident pro at the Deerwood Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida, Witt was approached by the Williams sisters to act as a hitting partner during their participation at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at nearby Amelia Island. In 2007, they asked him to accompany them to Charleston, South Carolina for the Family Circle Cup.^[3] Since then he has acted as a travelling hitting partner for both women,^[4] most notably for elder sister Venus.^[5][6] In December 2018, Venus ended the 11-year partnership.^[7] David Witt coached Jessica Pegula from July 2019^[8] to January 2024. In March 2024, Witt began coaching Maria Sakkari,^[9] and five months later, in July he started collaboration with Frances Tiafoe.^[10]

ATP career finals

Doubles: 1 (runner-up)

Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) ATP Masters Series (0–0) ATP Championship Series (0–0) ATP World Series (0–1)

Finals by surface Hard (0–0) Clay (0–1) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Finals by setting Outdoors (0–1) Indoors (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Apr 1994	Birmingham, United States	World Series	Clay	Brian MacPhie	Richey Reneberg Christo van Rensburg	6–2, 3–6, 2–6

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 4 (2–2)

Legend ATP Challenger (2–2) ITF Futures (0–0)

Finals by surface Hard (1–2) Clay (1–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0-1	Sep 1991	Whistler Mountain, Canada	Challenger	Hard	Fabio Silberberg	5–7, 3–6
Win	1-1	Nov 1992	Guadalajara, Mexico	Challenger	Clay	Mark Koevermans	6–4, 6–3
Loss	1-2	Aug 1994	Binghamton, United States	Challenger	Hard	Leander Paes	4–6, 2–6
Win	2-2	Aug 1997	Binghamton, United States	Challenger	Hard	Brian MacPhie	6–2, 6–4

Doubles: 4 (2–2)

Legend ATP Challenger (2–1) ITF Futures (0–1)

Finals by surface Hard (1–1) Clay (1–1) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Jul 1994	Winnetka, United States	Challenger	Hard	Brian MacPhie	Doug Flach Wade McGuire	7–5, 6–2
Loss	1–1	Jul 1997	Flushing Meadows, United States	Challenger	Hard	Michael Joyce	Geoff Grant Mark Merklein	1–6, 4–6
Win	2–1	Apr 1998	Birmingham, United States	Challenger	Clay	Doug Flach	Eyal Erlich Eric Taino	6–4, 7–5
Loss	2–2	May 2004	USA F11, Orange Park	Futures	Clay	Scott Melville	Levar Harper-Griffith Chris Kwon	5–7, 3–6

Performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	Q3	A	A	A	1R	0 / 1	0–1	0%
French Open	A	A	A	Q2	Q3	Q2	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	–
Wimbledon	A	Q1	Q1	Q3	1R	Q2	A	A	Q1	0 / 1	0–1	0%
US Open	1R	1R	Q2	1R	2R	A	A	Q1	Q1	0 / 4	1–4	20%
Win–loss	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	0 / 6	1–6	14%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells	A	A	A	Q1	Q1	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	–
Miami	A	2R	A	Q1	Q3	A	Q1	A	Q1	0 / 1	1–1	50%
Canada	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Q1	0 / 0	0–0	–
Cincinnati	A	A	A	Q3	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	–
Win–loss	0–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0 / 1	1–1	50%

Doubles

Tournament	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	–
French Open	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	0–1	0%
Wimbledon	A	A	Q3	Q2	A	A	A	Q1	0 / 0	0–0	–
US Open	1R	A	3R	2R	A	A	2R	Q1	0 / 4	4–4	50%
Win–loss	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–0	0 / 5	4–5	44%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Miami	A	A	Q2	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	–
Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0 / 0	0–0	–