Tyler Cempre enters his 13th season with the Rhodes College tennis team, and his 11th as the head men’s tennis coach, as he looks to move the Lynx tennis program forward in 2026.
In 2025-26 the Lynx exceeded expectations as the SAA expanded and got even stronger with additions of Trinity and Southwestern. Despite being picked to finish 5th, the Lynx held off multiple match points for 4-3 team wins against: Oglethorpe, Berry, and Centre to remain in the top half of the SAA and finish 4th. That finish led to a national ranking of #58 in the country, the first time Rhodes has been in the national rankings for a third consecutive year in program history. Seniors Oliver Bonovich and Christian Mainella both earned All-SAA First Team Singles nods, and Bonovich finished ranked #7 the NCAA South Region and #17 in the ITA Atlantic South Region. Coach Tyler also earned his second SAA Coach of the Year award for the teams’ success in close matches.
In 2024-25 the Lynx continued to improve in the conference and on a national level. Again, the Lynx were a mainstay in the Top 50 rankings with a high of #39 and ending #45 in the country. The Lynx moved up a spot in the SAA finishing 2nd to only Sewanee. The Lynx pulled through in a lot of close matches going 9-3 against Division 3 opponents in matches decided by a score of 4-3 or 5-2. Junior Oliver Bonovich had success at the #1 position including a ranking high of #17 in the ITA Atlantic Southern Region and being In Consideration (top 10) in the NCAA Region IV singles rankings. Bonovich was also named to the All-SAA First Team Singles Lineup, and the All-SAA First Team Doubles Lineup with junior Christian Mainella. Mainella was also named to the All-SAA Second Team Singles Lineup along with junior Paul Fridman.
In 2023-24 the Lynx were a mainstay in the ITA National Top 50 rankings with a ranking high of #35 and an end of the year ranking of #42. The Lynx finished 3rd in the SAA conference in a tough year where 5 SAA teams were nationally ranked throughout the year. Rhodes continued their success in close matches going 6-2 in matches decided by a score of 6-3 or 5-4, including ranked win over DePauw, Berry, and Centre. 5th year senior Daniel Trudell picked up a win over Sewanee’s ITA Cup Singles National Champion and #1 player in the nation, Jordan Theron, to propel him to a career high ranking or #12 in the ITA Atlantic South Region, and a ranking of #7 in the NCAA Region IV rankings. Trudell was also named to All-SAA First Team Singles Lineup joined by sophomore Oliver Bonovich on the All-SAA Second Team Singles Lineup. The doubles duo of junior Owen Kohler and freshman Nicholas Miloi also represented Rhodes on the all-conference lineup as All-SAA Second Team Doubles.
In 2022-23 the Lynx played a tough schedule that included going coast to coast, California to Virginia, in back-to-back weekends. After starting the year 1-2 in matches decided by 1 court the Lynx finished the year going 4-1 in 5-4 matches. Their impressive win streak in 5-4 matches included wins over Averett, #40 Christopher Newport, and SAA Rivals Centre and Millsaps to finish third in the SAA. Trudell had an ITA regional ranking high of #20 in the Atlantic South Region and #7 in the NCAA Region IV. Senior Daniel Trudell and Freshman Oliver Bonovich we’re both named First Team All-SAA. Freshmen Paul Fridman and Christian Mainella earned All-SAA Honorable Mention. Oliver Bonovich also became the third Lynx to SAA Newcomer of the Year (Trudell 2021, Chatterjee 2017), and Coach Tyler won his first SAA Coach of the Year Award for the bounce back season.
In 2021-2022 the Lynx played a full schedule littered with tough matches including three matches against Top 10 teams: Emory, WashU, and Southwestern. With a young squad the Lynx struggled to get going early in the year but played tough on the road in SAA matches that included 5-4 wins at Millsaps and at Berry. Daniel Trudell held a ranking high of #21 in the Atlantic South Region and was named First Team All-SAA. Freshman Justin Bobo was named Second Team All-SAA, and sophomore Gabe Williams earned All-SAA Honorable Mention.
In 2020-2021 the Lynx played a limited schedule due to COVID-19 but had a historic year. The Lynx won their lone non-conference match against Covenant College 7-2. Going into SAA play the Lynx would play each of their opponents twice, with Saturday being the conference match and Sunday being a developmental match for players. The Lynx went 5-1 in Saturday’s match including beating Centre in the final match of the year to claim a share of the SAA Regular Season Championship with Oglethorpe. This was Rhodes’ first Conference Championship in Men’s Tennis since 1970. A record 5 Lynx were also named to the All-SAA Team with Alex Lloyd, Andrew Morton, and Daniel Trudell earning first-team honors, David Phillips and Gabe Williams earning second-team honors, and Daniel Trudell earned the SAA Newcomer of the Year Award.
In 2019-2020 the Lynx were in the middle of a historic year before the season was canceled due to COVID-19. The Lynx ended their season in Orlando playing six matches in four days with an overall record of 7-7. Senior Ritwik Chatterjee broke Rhodes’ career win record by two with 119 wins, which included a three-set win against the #5 player in the nation while in Orlando. He also was named the ITA Division III Player of the Week in the last week of competition, and finished the year ranked #23 in the nation in singles. Senior Philippe Lauture also finished his career with 99 career wins landing him at #8 on Rhodes’ career wins list. There was no SAA All-Conference Team named in 2020.
In 2018-2019, the Lynx had a phenomenal fall season picking up over 30 wins at the ITA Regional and more than doubling their total from the previous year. Junior Ritwik Chatterjee made one of the deepest runs in recent history making the semifinals of Singles Main Draw. Freshmen Alex Lloyd and Alvaro Siu teamed up to win the Doubles C Flight and combined for seven wins in singles and doubles. The spring season was highlighted with a lot of great matches against nationally ranked competition. Juniors Andrew Morton and PJ Shaw picked up big wins at #1 doubles against Denison and Kenyon after starting both matches down 0-4. The Lynx finished second in the SAA after going 7-1 during the regular season and made the finals of the conference tournament for the first time since 2013. The Lynx also cracked into the ITA National Rankings at #39 for their first national ranking since 2011. Juniors Ritwik Chatterjee and Philippe Lauture both earned SAA All-Conference First Team, and junior Andrew Morton was named SAA All-Conference Honorable Mention.
In 2017-2018 the Lynx continued to improve and achieved their first top 10 Regional Ranking since 2011. The capstone of the year came in the first round of the conference tournament. After Rhodes and Oglethorpe each won four courts, sophomore PJ Shaw won his third set 7-5 on the deciding court to clinch the match 5-4 and propel the Lynx to the conference semi-finals. Sophomore Ritwik Chatterjee was named SAA All-Conference Second Team, and sophomore Phillippe Lauture was named SAA All-Conference Honorable Mention. Overall, the Lynx finished fourth in the SAA with an overall record of 13-9.
In 2016-2017 Coach Tyler took over as the head men’s tennis coach. In his fall debut at the ITA Regional, seniors Albert Vacheron and Daniel Olivier defeated teams from Emory and Sewanee to propel them to a No. 13-ranking in the Atlantic South Region. In the spring, Coach Tyler coached freshman Ritwik Chatterjee to Newcomer of the Year honors in the SAA, led the Lynx to an overall record of 17-6, a third place finish in the SAA, and a ranking of No. 11 in the Atlantic South Region.
In 2015-2016 Coach Tyler continued to see improvements from both teams. On the men’s side they finished 9-10 after a tough schedule facing five nationally ranked Division III teams and handful of Division I and II schools. Coach Tyler also guided senior Elliot Blatt to ranking of No. 21 in the Atlantic South Region. On the women’s side the team had a hot start going 4-0 and taking down in-town rival Christian Brothers University 6-3. After two tough 5-4 losses in conference, the women finished seventh in the SAA.
In 2014-2015, in his first year as an assistant coach, Coach Tyler helped the men’s tennis team to a 9-8-1 record, a ranking of No. 12 in the Atlantic South Region, and a first round win in the SAA tournament. On the women’s side the team climbed as high as No. 14 in the Atlantic South Region. They peaked at the conference tournament and pulled off a first-round upset defeating No. 3-Millsaps 5-4 with only five players. As the sixth seed, the Lynx became the highest seed to advance to the semi-finals in the 20+ year history to the SAA and SCAC conference tournaments.
Tyler is a graduate of Denison University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in education and psychology. While at Denison, Tyler was a four-year member of the Big Red tennis squad where he started in singles and doubles every season. He posted an overall record of 101-40, qualified for the Division III National Championships in doubles, was a six-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference selection, and was ranked as high as No. 3 in central region doubles, No. 9 in central region singles and No. 18 nationally in doubles.
Tyler and his wife Carly live in Germantown with their 2-year-old son Hesser. They enjoy going to Grizzlies games, free concerts in Midtown and Germantown, and playing board games with friends.
