Alma Mater: NYU '87
Seasons as Head Coach: 19 (including 2025-26)
Career Record: 111-126 (.468)
All-Americans: 6
Horace Choy took over as head coach of the New York University men’s tennis program prior to the 2007-08 season. His teams have posted an overall 111-126 record and he has produced six All-Americans: Mikhail Gurevich (singles-2007), Alex Stoler (doubles-2009), Patrick Whitner (singles/doubles-2009), Steven Wu (singles-2014), and Boren Zheng (singles-2024).
NYU posted a strong dual-match season in 2024-25, going 11-4 including an eight-match win streak. The Violets defeated Carnegie Mellon in the first round of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship and tied its best-ever finish at the event, taking fourth place for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
Zheng qualified for the NCAA Division III Individual Championship and received accolades as All-UAA First Team in both singles and doubles. Philip Martin was also All-UAA First Team in doubles while securing Second Team in singles.
Choy’s Violets were tabbed as an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team, seven players were named ITA Scholar Athlete, six were selected UAA Spring All-Academic, while Jingyuan Chen was named College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District.
In 2023-24, the Violets finished 5-10 and took sixth place at the UAA Championship as Zheng qualified for the NCAA Individual Championship and won his opening match to secure All-America accolades. He also earned First Team All-UAA honors in singles and Second Team honors in doubles. Joining him as Second Team honorees were Chen (singles) and Alexander Lee (doubles).
Academically, eight players earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar Athlete honors and four were named UAA All-Academic, while the Violets were tabbed as an ITA All-Academic Team.
In 2022-23, the Violets posted a 7-8 match record, including a victory over the University of Rochester at the UAA Championship. Individually, Zheng earned Second Team All-UAA (singles) honors and Honorable Mention (doubles). Also receiving Honorable Mention was Lee (doubles) and Joseph He (singles).
Off the court, 12 players were named ITA Scholar-Athlete, eight earned UAA All-Academic honors and two (He and Alex Yang) were selected CSC Academic All-District.
The Violets returned to a full season of action in 2021-22 after more than a year lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic. NYU defeated Rochester in its final match of the ’22 spring campaign at the UAA Championship and Yang was selected Second Team All-UAA First Singles. The fall campaign was highlighted by Yang’s advancement to the quarterfinals of the ITA Northeast Regional Championships.
A total of five Violets earned UAA All-Academic honors, while Rumaish Khastgir received the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award.
The Violets did not compete at all in 2020-21, but five team members still earned UAA All-Academic honors.
NYU posted a 1-2 dual-match record and was ranked #15 in the ITA Northeast Region during the 2019-20 season, which was cut short due to Covid-19. Yang made an impressive debut for the Violets, advancing to the Round of 16 at the ITA Northeast Regional Championships in the fall. The abbreviated spring season culminated with a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Southern Virginia University on Senior Day. Vishal Walia, who contributed a singles and doubles victory in the match to help propel the comeback, finished his NYU career second all-time in #3 doubles victories (16).
Choy’s players also made their marks in the classroom that season as eight were honored as ITA Scholar Athletes and four earned All-UAA Spring Sport All-Academic accolades.
In 2018-19, Choy led the Violets to a 7-8 match record with four of the losses suffered by the slimmest of margins (5-4). NYU defeated the University of Rochester at the UAA Championship in its final match of the season as Lucas Biondi, who posted an impressive 12-1 match record during the season, earned Second Team All-UAA Third Singles honors. NYU was ranked #36 in the nation at the end of the campaign by the ITA, while Walia earned a #46 ranking nationally in singles. Several Violets also represented themselves well in the classroom in ’18-19 as five team members earned UAA All-Academic recognition.
Choy led the Violets to a 5-10 overall record in 2017-18 following a 10-4 mark in 2016-17. The Violets ended that campaign ranked #27 nationally and #11 in the Northeast Region by the ITA.
The Violets racked up many individual awards throughout that ’16-17 season. Umberto Setter was named First Team All-UAA First Singles as well as Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Player of the Month (September). Walia was named ECAC Division III Rookie of the Month in September, while Michael Li earned UAA Athlete of the Week honors in March.
In 2015-16, the Violets had a 5-10 overall record and a seventh-place finish at the UAA Championship as Matt DeMichiel was named Second Team All-UAA Fifth Singles.
In 2014-15, NYU finished with a 4-9 overall record and took seventh place at the UAA Championship while several of Choy’s players earned individual recognition. Ian Combemale was selected UAA Athlete of the Week, ECAC Metro Player of the Week and Metro Rookie of the Week during the season. Sidd Thangirala also received ECAC Metro Player of the Week honors, while Karan Goyal was tabbed as a UAA Athlete of the Week.
In 2013-14, the Violets recorded an 8-3 record and earned a top-30 national ranking for the first time since 2006. NYU finished the year ranked #30 by the ITA and #11 in the ITA Northeast Region rankings. The Violets were ranked as high as #23 nationally and #5 in the northeast during the season. Steven Wu went 17-3 (.850) in singles and was the first Violet to participate at the NCAA Division III National Championships since 2002. He was ranked #2 in the northeast and #24 in the nation prior to nationals and was seeded #7 overall out of 32 qualifiers. Aaron Meltzer was ranked #22 in the northeast, while as a doubles pair Wu and Meltzer were ranked as high as #9 in the northeast.
Based on the team’s performance and the leadership he provided, Choy was named ITA Northeast Coach of the Year as NYU posted its fourth consecutive winning season.
In 2012-13, the Violets posted an 8-6 record and finished the year ranked #14 in the ITA Northeast Region. The squad earned a sixth-place finish at the UAA Championship.
Thangirala went 14-1 (.933) in singles, the second-best winning percentage in team annals. He earned Second Team All-UAA honors at #5 singles, while the doubles tandem of Harveer Bhalla and Meltzer finished the campaign ranked #12 in the ITA Northeast Region.
In 2011-12, the Violets finished 10-7 and were ranked as high as #14 in the ITA Northeast Region rankings. Individually, Wu went 15-2 (.882) in singles, tying for the fifth-highest winning percentage in team history.
The Violets went 7-6 during the 2010-11 season. Included was a five-match winning streak to end the regular season, the team’s longest since the beginning of the 2001-02 season. NYU climbed as high as #14 in the ITA Northeast Region rankings that season, while Connor Witty (9-3 record at #1 singles) was ranked as high as #15 individually. Raphael Namias went 3-0 at the UAA Championship en route to being named Second Team All-UAA at #2 singles. He finished the year 15-2 (.882) in singles, while Daniel Penaranda recorded the program’s third-best one-season winning percentage (.917, 11-1).
Under Choy’s tutelage in 2008-09, Whitner won the ITA Northeast Region Singles Championship and combined with Stoler to win the Doubles Championship.
In his first season with the team, Choy led the squad to a 10-9 record, a six-win improvement over its 2006-07 total. The Violets recorded victories in eight of their final 10 matches while securing a fifth-place finish at the UAA Championship. NYU finished the season #13 in the final ITA Northeast Region rankings. Gurevich posted a 21-5 record at #1 singles, earned Second Team All-UAA accolades and finished the campaign ranked #12 in the ITA Northeast Region rankings.
A 1987 graduate of NYU’s School of Business and Public Administration with a Bachelor of Science degree in management and marketing, Choy was a two-year member of the Violets’ men’s tennis team. Also serving as a tennis instructor at NYU, Choy has been a United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) certified teaching pro since 1990.
Prior to coming to NYU, Choy spent five seasons as the Head Girls’ Tennis Coach at New York City’s Hunter High School. His teams compiled a 38-2 record during his tenure at the school and three times advanced to the semifinals of the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) playoffs. Choy helped lead Hunter to the PSAL Championship match in 1990 and to two semifinal appearances in the Mayor’s Cup competition.
Choy has also worked at many prestigious tennis clubs around New York City, including the East River Tennis Club, the Crosstown Tennis Club, and at the USTA National Tennis Center, home of the U.S. Open.
“I have always enjoyed the camaraderie that comes with team sports,” Choy said. “Tennis also allows you to work on aspects of the game on your own. In a match, the player is out there on the line and you have to rely on your own character. I believe that playing college tennis really gives you the best of both worlds, and I really enjoy the challenge of helping my players through that.”
CHOY’S YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORD
| Year |
Overall |
| 2007-08 |
10-9 |
| 2008-09 |
7-8 |
| 2009-10 |
4-11 |
| 2010-11 |
7-6 |
| 2011-12 |
10-7 |
| 2012-13 |
8-6 |
| 2013-14 |
8-3 |
| 2014-15 |
4-9 |
| 2015-16 |
5-10 |
| 2016-17 |
10-4 |
| 2017-18 |
5-10 |
| 2018-19 |
7-8 |
| 2019-20* |
1-2 |
| 2020-21** |
----- |
| 2021-22 |
2-10 |
| 2022-23 |
7-8 |
| 2023-24 |
5-10 |
| 2024-25 |
11-4 |
| TOTALS |
111-126 (.468) |
* Season suspended due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
** Season canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
