Cedric Kauffmann
	Position: Associate Head Coach Years at UK:: 7th

Former Kentucky standout Cedric Kauffmann is in his seventh season assisting head coach Dennis Emery with the University of Kentucky men's tennis program after being hired as the assistant coach in Aug. 2005. Prior to the 2009-10 season Kauffmann was promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach.

The past two seasons have been historic for the Wildcats and Kauffmann has played a major role. Kentucky has earned 54 wins over the past two seasons, setting a school record both years. UK's 20-plus wins in each of the last two seasons marked the first time UK had claimed that honor since 1987-89. Kauffmann has also led UK to a top-15 finish in the ITA final rankings the past three seasons, including at No. 8 post in 2011 for the schools highest final ranking since 2002.

Last season, Kentucky posted a school-record 29 wins, eclipsing the previous mark of 25, which was set by the 2010 team. Kentucky made two deep runs in the postseason, advancing to the finals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament for only the second time in school history, while also earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight for only the fourth time in school history before falling to eventual National Champion Southern California.

During the fall of 2011, Kauffmann was honored by the athletics department as the first ever tennis player inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame.

In 2010, the Wildcats made their seventh trip to the NCAA Round of 16 before falling to eventual National Champion Southern California. The appearance in the round of 16 marked UK's most successful run in the NCAA Tournament since advancing to the quarterfinals in 2002. UK's biggest win of the year came early in the season when Kentucky took down then-No. 2 Virginia, who spent most of the season ranked No. 1 in the country, to end UVA's 63-match regular-season winning streak

In 2009, Kauffmann helped guide the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament, earning the International Tennis Association Southeastern Assistant Coach of the Year award.

Kauffmann, a native of Montsoult, France, has continued the legacy of dominate French players coming to Kentucky to play collegiate tennis, helping recruit All-SEC performers Alex Musialek (Dax, France), Anthony Rossi (Marseille, France) and Tom Jomby (Nantes, France). Musialek has spent much of the past two seasons ranked in singles, while Rossi led the Wildcats in SEC singles wins in 2011 and Jomby was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team.

As a player at Kentucky, Kauffmann was a three-time All-American from 1996-98, finishing among the nation's top-10 singles players each season. In 1997, he was ranked a career-best second in the nation after advancing to the Clay Court Singles Championships. Kauffmann won two-thirds of his singles matches as a Wildcat, compiling a 121-61 record.

Kauffmann was also a three-time All-SEC performer. In 1996, Kauffmann was the semifinalist for the National Indoor Singles Championships. In the previous season, Kauffmann reached the quarterfinals of the Clay Court Singles Championship.

"Cedric is one of the best coaches I have ever been around in player development," Emery said. "It is exciting for me to watch him work each day with our players. He is quickly earning the respect of everyone in the tennis world. We are thrilled to have one of the best players in our program's history as an associate head coach."

Kauffmann returned to Lexington and joined Emery's staff prior to the 2005-06 campaign after serving as the head professional at the Five Seasons Country Club, in Cincinnati, Ohio for two years.

"It was an easy decision to come back to Lexington," Kauffmann said. "I wanted to work with one of the best programs in the nation and to be able to work with coach Emery. I'm looking forward to coaching this team and recruiting future players."

Prior to his work in Ohio, Kauffmann participated in the ATP Tennis Tour for five years, reaching No. 170 in the world rankings. He competed in two Grand Slams during his career, the 2000 United States Open and the 2001 French Open. At the 2001 French Open, Kauffmann played three match points against tennis legend Pete Sampras before falling in the fifth set.

Kauffmann resides in Lexington with his wife Caroline, who is a native of the Bluegrass state. The couple has three children, Isabelle, Gabrielle and Cedric Pierre Louis.

Cedric Kauffmann vs Pete Sampras

On May 28, 2001, former Wildcat standout and assistant coach Cedric Kauffmann stepped onto the Suzanne Lenglen Court at Roland Garros in Paris, France, for a French Open first-round match against fifth-seeded Pete Sampras. Kauffmann, a French qualifier ranked 250th in the world, had not won a singles title on the minor league Challenger circuit and was looking for his first ATP victory.

The odds were stacked against Kauffmann as Sampras had only lost once to a qualifier in his previous 22 Grand Slam tournaments, however the former No. 1 player in the world lost in the first round of the French Open the year prior.

A French native, Kauffmann thrilled his countrymen by leading Sampras 5-3 and holding two match points in the deciding set of a three-hour and 12-minute contest on the show court of his homeland's signature tennis event.

Down a break, Sampras saved one match point with a service winner and erased the second with a patented Sampras serve-and-volley approach, cutting off Kauffmann's return at the net for a winner.

Uninhibited, Kauffmann battled his way to a third match point in the next game serving at 5-4 after Sampras hit an unforced forehand error, one of 86 in the match. This time a drop-volley allowed the American to escape an upset.
With Kauffmann serving at 6-7, Sampras played his first match point with a drop volley but watched Kauffmann's shot fly by him. The underdog then saved a second match point before hooking a forehand wide on the third match point to give Sampras the 8-6 five-set victory. Bent over for most of the final two games from fatigue, Sampras looked to the sky and shook his fist.

''It was more relief than anything,'' Sampras said. ''I thought I was down and out there for a second.''

With competence off both wings and excellence in reading his opponent's serve, Kauffmann punished the Grand Slam champion for imperfect approach shots and volleys. Sampras had trouble finding his rhythm in serving or his forehand and was forced to call on his mental game.

Sampras' big serve helped him to a first-set victory, 6-3. But the second set may have given the Frenchman just the adrenaline and emotion he needed to challenge the fifth seed.

On the initial point of the 10th game in the second set Sampras leaped into an overhead smash. But Kauffmann guessed right and blistered a passing shot that ignited the crowd.

''Changed the whole momentum,'' Sampras said. ''The crowd got into it.''

Later in the same game, with fans chanting his name, Kauffmann pumped his fist and shouted after he sent a forehand return down the line. The Frenchman had won the game along with the set at 6-4.

At one point, an American heckler in the crowd shouted out, ''Better retire Pete.''

However, Sampras regrouped and Kauffmann gave up the third set, 6-2. And again, the former Wildcat came back to win the next set, this time 6-3 in the fourth to even the match.

Kauffmann came just short of handing the tennis legend a stunning loss but Sampras prevailed 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 8-6, and the big server seemed happy to escape.

''I don't think I played the right way today,'' Sampras said. ''I stayed back a little bit too much. At the end, I came in more, put a bit more pressure on him.''

Kauffmann's post-match comments show how he battled off the intimidation of facing a future hall-of-famer in only his second Grand Slam match.

''I go to bed, and I say, 'I hope I don't look that bad on the court,' '' said Kauffmann, who entered the tournament as a qualifier. ''You're kind of scared. During the warm-up today, it was kind of blurry in the stadium, because I usually see him on TV. I thought it was still a TV screen. But when I won my first service game, I got settled down and concentrated on the match.''