GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Former Florida women's tennis coach Andy Brandi, whose teams posted a .914 winning percentage over 17 seasons and won three national championships, has died. He was 72 years old.
The Gators said Brandi died Thursday in Boca Raton following an illness.
Under Brandi's direction, Florida won 14 Southeastern Conference regular-season titles and 10 conference tournament crowns and captured national titles in 1992, 1996 and 1998.
“Simply put, Andy Brandi was a winner in every sense of the word,” said former Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley. “He was one of my favorite coaches here of all time.”
Brandi retired in 2001 with a 460-43 win-loss record. He was inducted into the school's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
He came out of retirement in 2017 to join his son as co-head coach of the LSU men's team, a position he held for five seasons.
Brandi was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1952 and attended Trinity College in San Antonio, Texas, where she played on the men's tennis team and devoted herself to coaching after graduating with a business degree.
He was executive director of the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton when Florida hired him at age 33.
He is survived by his wife, Nancy, and son, Chris.
