Stephen Curtis is in his 22nd season as Mason's head coach of women's tennis. He has established a winning program, notching a school-record 21 matches in the 2009-10 season and having double-digits wins in 13 regular seasons at Mason. This past summer, Coach Curtis was honored with the Dave Borelli Leadership Award at the Annual OCCTA Tennis Conference.
Last season, Curtis coached the team to a commanding 4-0 victory over Atlantic 10 rivals, Saint Louis. The team was awarded an All-Academic Team designation with six student-athletes named as ITA All-Academic Scholar-Athletes. Current sophomore, Cenan Liu, was recognized with an Atlantic 10 Postseason Award and earned a spot on the All-Atlantic 10 Second Team.
The 2022-23 season showed a lot of success as the program had first time A10 victories over St. Louis and Dayton. The team finished with a 10-7 record and placed two players on the A10 All Conference Team, Senior Paige La earned First Team accolades while Grad Student Taylor Garcia was placed on the Second Team.
When Curtis arrived at George Mason he brought a lot of experience to the Mason program, having spent his career playing and teaching at many different levels. He quickly established himself in his first year as a collegiate coach ending the season with an 12-13 record and proved it was no fluke finishing with an even better record, 14-12, in year two.
Coach Curtis took over the program which was 6-13 the previous season, one six consecutive losing seasons before he arrived. In his fourth year, he led a very young team to an 11-12 overall record. He coached a top six headlined by three freshmen, two of which finished with personal records at or above .500 overall. Curtis coached Mason to a 7-3 record in their final 10 matches of the spring 2008 season.
Curtis' teams have excelled in the classroom as well. The program under Curtis has distinguished itself nationally by posting the highest scores possibly for the Academic Progress Rates as determined by the NCAA. The program has received recognition for finishing within the top 10 percent of the national average for the Academic Progress Rates. The team has also earned multiple ITA Academic Awards and has had several Provost Scholars. "I am as proud of our academic accomplishment as I am on our court victories. At Mason our players are student-athletes with a strong emphasis on student."
In those first two seasons, top player Andreea Fusea won two individual tournaments titles in the fall (2004), the DC Metro Championship and the Martha Thorn Invitational Flight A singles title at West Virginia. The doubles team of Maricel Ballester and Fusea won the DC Metro Championships doubles title (2005).
By and large the best Patriots team was the 2009-10 team which cruised to a school-best 21 win season. The season was highlighted by freshman Kiersten Pappas, who earned All-CAA Third Team in singles and doubles with partner Lindsay Gray competing in the No. 1 position for the Patriots and sophomore Brooke Blackwell's 19-match winning streak.
In 2018 Curtis became one of the owners of A Plus Sports, a local sports management company. He is currently the General Manager of one of their properties, the Burke Racquet & Swim Club, which is where the tennis teams practice and play indoors during the winter.
Before A Plus Sports he was the head tennis professional at nearby Springfield Golf and Country Club from 1996-2018. As the top tennis professional, he directed the junior tennis program, where he coached sectional ranked junior players and instructed adults of all levels. In the four-year span from 1994-98, Curtis was the varsity tennis coach at St. Stephen St. Agnes School, coaching in the top conference in the Washington, DC area. He spent one year as the director of tennis at Washington Hilton Sport and Health Club in Washington, DC.
Prior to moving to the DC Metro area, Curtis competed in Europe while living in Munich Germany. He organized and directed the Munich and Augsburg United States Military Community adult and junior tennis programs. He coached Munich American High School and German junior tennis teams to eight conference titles. He was an instructor to nationally ranked German junior players, including two world class female players. He earned a B.A. in Psychology and Business in 1986 from The University of Maryland, European Division. As a player, he participated in international tournaments, including Pro Satellite events in Austria and Germany. He won the United States All Forces European Championship 1993. He participated in German Team Tennis League with ATP ranked players. He is certified by the United States Professional Tennis Registry (USPTR) and United States Racquet Stringers Association (USRSA) and serves on the National Babolat Pro Team. He resides in Springfield, VA with his wife Catherine.
CURTIS RECORD
2024-2025: 6-15 (1-7)
2023-2024: 6-16 (2-5)
2022-2023: 10-7 (2-3)
2021-2022: 13-8 (2-4)
2020-2021: 7-4 (2-2)
2019-2020: 5-5 (0-2)
2018-2019: 17-10 (2-4)
2017-2018: 8-14 (3-5)
2016-2017: 15-9 (2-4)
2015-2016: 10-16 (2-7)
2014-2015: 16-8 (2-2)
2013-2014: 10-14 (1-4)
2012-2013: 8-13 (0-5)
2011-2012: 13-12 (1-7)
2010-2011: 18-12 (1-6)
2009-2010: 21-9 (3-3)
2008-2009: 9-12 (0-7)
2007-2008: 12-11 (1-4)
2006-2007: 7-14 (0-4)
2005-2006: 14-12 (1-3)
2004-2005: 12-13 (3-4)
237-234 (31-92)
