Tennis pro Dave Marshall wins national coaching award

Growing up in Millsboro, Dave Marshall was a gifted athlete who earned top results in numerous local tennis tournaments and competed against other talented players from around the nation.

One simple conversation at a Salisbury, Md. tournament never left his mind. As Marshall was courtside with Gloria Thompson Connors, mother of Jimmy Connors, she said, “You’re a great player, and you’d be an even better coach.”

Now, after more than 30 years of successful coaching, Marshall has received the Tim Gullikson Touring Coach of the Year Award. The award is given in memory of Tim Gullikson, who coached Pete Sampras along with many other top tennis professionals, and is awarded only to members of the United States Professional Tennis Association who coach on the Association of Tennis Professionals Professional Tour.

Alongside David MacPherson, Marshall coached doubles pairs Bob and Mike Bryan to win the 2013 Wimbledon Doubles Championship. He and MacPherson also teamed up to lead Mike Bryan and Jack Sock to the U.S. Open Doubles Championship and ATP finals Doubles Championship in 2018. Marshall has also coached the Bryan brothers to Masters Series wins in Miami and Monte Carlo, and Masters Series finals in Madrid and Indian Wells, as well as other tour-level finals in Mexico.

Over the past 20 years, Marshall has also helped develop 105 state championship tennis players, 75 sectional champions, 25 USTA national champions and two U.S. Open qualifiers. He has sent 125 players on to play collegiate tennis and has coached NCAA champions. He also worked with an Australian Open/Wimbledon Junior Girls' Finalist and thousands of students whose improved skills have led to greater enjoyment of the game.

Despite all the travel and excitement of the ATP Tour, Marshall, who owns the Dave Marshall Tennis Center in Lewes, spends some of his best days with students from the Cape Henlopen, Indian River, Milford, Dover and Wilmington school districts and Worcester Preparatory School, and hosting weekend tennis camps for hundreds of local residents and coastal Delaware visitors every year.