Maciek Sykut has been named the next head coach for Elon University’s men’s tennis team. Sykut will take over for Michael Leonard, who retired at the end of the 2023-24 season following 20 storied years leading the program.
Following a career in professional tennis, Sykut began coaching at North Carolina State University in 2012 where he served first as a volunteer assistant coach before getting a full-time assistant coach position.
Sykut also spent time at the University of Arizona as the associate head coach and helped lead the team in 2019 to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010.
He also found success as an assistant coach for two years at Duke University before being promoted to associate head coach in 2022. At Duke, Sykut led the Blue Devils to 71 wins and four NCAA Tournament appearances. During his time at Duke, Sykut was named the 2022-23 ITA Assistant Coach of the Year and helped guide the team to a single-season record of 11 ACC victories in 2024 — as well as to two victories over teams ranked in the country’s top 10.
Sykut said the opportunity to coach at Elon checked off a lot of boxes for him and his family. Sykut is glad to stay in the North Carolina area to help raise his family and loves the combination of academics and athletics at Elon.
“I think the previous coaches at Elon laid a tremendous foundation,” Sykut said. “It’s really a great opportunity for me to grow professionally to be a head coach and to try to continue to build on what’s already been laid.”
Sykut said his experience with big-time programs like Duke helped teach him that culture is key in building up a program.
“At the core, it’s making sure that we outline what our culture should look like and we define the standards for the program and we find individuals that have good character,” Sykut said.
Sykut said he understands the importance of following Leonard, the most successful tennis coach in Elon’s history, and values the commitment of continuing the success Leonard had.
“Michael spent 20 years at Elon and did a tremendous job,” Sykut said. “I’m going to continue to work to keep that consistency there, but I’m also going to lean on the great support that Elon has.”
Despite only meeting the players once before they left for the summer, Sykut is excited to start working with them once they return.
“We’re going to push on the court, we’re going to push in the weight room, we’re going to push in conditioning, we’re going to push on the mental aspect of the game and I’m going to try and deliver my experiences to the players and let them learn from that,” Sykut said.
Junior Oskar Antinheimo will be a key part of Sykut’s team next year as he comes off being named the 2024 Team MVP.
“I’m very excited to play for him because he’s coming from big-time programs and he’s been working with great players,” Antinheimo said. “I’m very excited to see his perspective and just learn a lot from him.”
Sykut said he looks forward to getting to know Antinheimo and the rest of the team more, as well as to see what the team can do next year.
“The expectation is to build a culture that is continuing to foster a culture of excellence, and we’re going to push that in the classroom, we’re going to push on the court,” Sykut said. “We’re going to try to get better and be as consistent as we can be and hopefully we can push the envelope to win championships.”
