Taka Bertrand was named the Swensen-McMahon Head Coach ofWomen’s Tennis at Yale in July of 2014. She joined theBulldogs after spending two seasons as head coach at St.John's.
At St. John’s Bertrand led the Red Storm to an 8-3mark in conference matches, and a 22-20 overall mark, over the pasttwo seasons. The team also had a pair of All-Big East honorees. Inher first season at the helm she led St. John’s to 11 wins,nearly doubling the team’s win total from the previous season(six). This past season the team earned its highest seed at the BigEast tournament in 10 years (fourth) and advanced to the conferencesemifinals.
Prior to coaching at St. John’s, Bertrand served as theinterim head coach of both the men’s and women’s tennisprograms at the University of Chicago. In 2012, she led thewomen’s team to the NCAA Division III Women’s TennisChampionship Finals for the first time in school history. TheMaroons went 23-5 and finished the season ranked No. 2 in thecountry, the best national ranking in school history. They wontheir second University Athletic Association tournamentchampionship, helping Bertrand and her staff earn recognition asthe UAA Coaching Staff of the Year.
Bertrand was hired as an assistant coach at Chicago in February2010, and helped lead the women's team to NCAA Division III FinalFour appearances in 2010 and 2011. She also helped guide the men'ssquad to an appearance in the NCAA regional finals in 2011 andhelped Kendra Higgins to the 2011 NCAA singles final and a No. 2national ranking. The 2010 women’s squad also won the UAAconference championship, Chicago's first conference championship inwomen's tennis.
For her efforts at Chicago, Bertrand was named the ITA DivisionIII Women's Assistant Coach of the Year in 2011 and the ITADivision III Central Region Men's and Women's Assistant Coach ofthe Year in 2010.
Bertrand graduated from Vanderbilt in 2008 with the schoolrecord for singles wins (124). She was the 2004-05 SEC Freshman ofthe Year and the 2005-06 SEC Player of the Year, making her theonly player in school history to receive both awards. She was anAll-SEC selection in all four of her seasons (first team in 2006and 2008, second team in 2007, second team in singles and doublesin 2005) and earned a spot on the SEC Academic Honor Roll threetimes. She was selected as the Tennessee Sports Hall of FameAmateur Female Athlete of the Year for 2006.
Vanderbilt went 84-26 in Bertrand’s career, including a20-6 mark when she captained the team in 2008. The team finishedthe season ranked in the top 16 nationally each year, advancing tothe round of 16 at the NCAA Tournament four times. Bertrand alsoplayed individually in the NCAA singles tournament twice, advancingas far as the second round in 2006.
Bertrand played professionally on the WTA Tour for one yearafter graduating from Vanderbilt, rising as high as No. 602 in theworld rankings in singles and No. 587 in doubles.
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Great Falls, Va.,Bertrand holds a BA in economics from Vanderbilt and a Master ofLiberal Arts from the University of Chicago.
