Florida Flamingos Name Jesse Levine Head Coach for World Team Tennis Relaunch

The Florida Flamingos have their coach.

World Team Tennis announced that Jesse Levine will lead the South Florida franchise when the league returns this December, putting a familiar Florida tennis figure in charge of a roster headlined by player-owner Coco Gauff.

Levine joins Kim Clijsters, who will coach the New York Empire, and Daniel Nestor, who will lead Toronto North, as WTT prepares for its reimagined 47th season.

For Levine, the Florida assignment is a particularly natural fit. He moved to the state at age 13, won the Wimbledon boys’ doubles title in 2005 and played No. 1 singles for the University of Florida as a freshman in 2007, earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors.

Above: Jesse Levine playing on the ATP Tour in 2013. Photo credit: si.robi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

He later reached No. 69 in the ATP singles rankings before moving into coaching, working with prominent WTA players including Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula.

Now he gets one of the more intriguing teams in WTT’s return.

Gauff, who grew up in Delray Beach, joined the Flamingos in September as both a player and owner. She is joined on the Florida roster by Tommy Paul, Learner Tien, Brandon Nakashima, Iva Jovic and Eva Lys.

The Flamingos will play their two South Florida home matches at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Dec. 14 and 15.

Above: Team coaches for the World Team Tennis 2026 season. Source: World Team Tennis.

The first brings Toronto North to town, with Gauff projected to face Victoria Mboko and Paul slated against Denis Shapovalov. One night later, Florida hosts the New York Empire in a lineup that currently features Gauff against Jessica Pegula and Paul against Taylor Fritz.

Each WTT match is built around four singles sets followed by a mixed doubles Super Tiebreaker, with the league positioning the format as a faster, arena-style version of professional tennis built around city-based teams and local rivalries.

The Flamingos also carry some serious Florida tennis history. The original franchise featured stars including Chris Evert and Cliff Drysdale during World Team Tennis’ first era.

More than five decades later, Levine will be charged with giving the Flamingos’ new generation its own identity — with one of South Florida’s biggest tennis stars helping lead it on and off the court.

Tickets and schedule information are available at World Team Tennis.

By Florida Tennis Staff. Sources: World Team Tennis; World Team Tennis — Coco Gauff Joins Florida Flamingos; WTT 2026 Schedule. Photo credit (top): Robbie Mendelson, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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