Sander Koning enters his fourth season with Clemson Men’s Tennis and was added to Brandon Wagner’s staff in June 2023. He served as an assistant coach from 2023-2025 and was promoted to his current role of Associate Head Coach in the fall of 2025. Koning also served as a volunteer assistant coach for women’s tennis team in 2022.
Prior to the 2025-26 season, Koning helped recruit key freshman including Matisse Farzam and Henrik Bladelius, who each made an immediate impact in the lineup. In the 2025–26 season, Clemson finished the year 17-13, reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament and tying the program-best 8-5 record in the ACC. The Tigers finished the year as the 30th-ranked team in the ITA national poll. Additional achievements include defeating No. 14 South Carolina (4-2) and Harvard (4-1) to qualify for the ITA National Indoor Championships. Clemson was selected to the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year, where the Tigers defeated Ole Miss in the first round, 4-3.
During the 2024–25 season, Koning helped shape Clemson’s return to national relevance, contributing to the program’s best season in over a decade. The Tigers wrapped up the year ranked No. 26 in the ITA national team rankings, their highest final ranking since 2014, and compiled a 22-8 overall record, including a program-record 8-5 mark in ACC play.
The team launched the season with impressive momentum, earning dominant non-conference wins over No. 16 Michigan State (5-2) and No. 17 South Carolina (7-0), sparking a 17-1 start, the program’s best since 1969. Clemson added major ACC wins over No. 11 Duke and North Carolina, with the latter marking the Tigers’ first sweep of the Tar Heels since 1997. After that weekend, Clemson rose to No. 16 in the ITA rankings, its highest in-season standing in more than a decade.
The Tigers earned their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2014, reaching the second round before falling in a tight match to No. 8 Columbia. Several players posted career-best ITA rankings, including Noa Vukadin at No. 54 in singles and Viktor Markov at No. 109. In doubles, Vukadin and Max Smith climbed to No. 28, establishing themselves as one of the top tandems in the country
In the 2023-24 season, Koning helped coached the Tigers to 14 regular season wins and guided the team to the ACC Championship Quarterfinal match. For ACC opponents, Clemson beat Miami for the first time since 2018 and secured wins against Notre Dame, Louisville, and Virginia Tech for the first time since 2016. Koning coached the Tigers to five ACC Wins for the first time since 2016. In the 2023 campaign, the Tigers had two singles players ranked in the Top 125 and had the duo of Noa Vukadin and Max Smith finish 32 overall. In their first season as a pairing, Vukadin and Smith beat two Top 15 doubles teams.
As a student-athlete, Koning competed at Clemson University at the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles position. A two-time All-ACC Player (2003, 2005), Koning was also a four-time selection to the All-ACC Academic Team (2002-06). A sport marketing major, he was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was selected as the men’s tennis team captain in 2005-06.
Koning was the Head Coach of the Georgia Southern men’s tennis team from 2015-2020, leading the Eagles to a 79-67 record during his tenure. He was named the 2017-18 Sun Belt Co-Coach of the Year.
Koning has played professionally and earned ATP points in professional club tennis competitions and tournaments.