Thiago Lins is entering his eighth year as the Head Men's Tennis coach at Cumberland University. During his tenure, he has helped establish Cumberland as a perinneal Top 25 program with three-straight trips to the NAIA National Championships.
Lins has endured recent success seeing his men's team go to three straight NAIA National Championships and won the Mid-South Conference Tournament Championship in 2024. The past two seasons the Phoenix have ranked inside the Top 15.
in 2023-24, the team won the Mid-South Conference Tournament Championship for the first time in program history. The finished the season with their year with a 12-11-1 record and another trip to the National Tournament. Cumberland had four players earn All-Mid-South Conference honors and Vitor Ferreira and Julian Parada were named ITA All-American Doubles team. The team earned the ITA Community Service Award for the fourth straight year while three players earned ITA Southeast Region honors.
In 2022-23, the Phoenix all stayed inside the Top 15 aall season long finishing with a 19-8 this season playing one of the toughest schedules in the NAIA taking on ranked opponents in 13 matches. Cumberland put five players on the All-Conference list including Mid-South Conference Freshman of the Year Pavel Kelo and MSC Assitant Coach of the Year Juan Diego Medina.
In 2021, the team finished 14-9 and making their sixth all-time appearance to the NAIA National Tournament. The Phoenix were ranked as high as No. 16 in the NAIA Top-25 polls.
Over the past two seasons, Lins has had 10 players earn Mid-South Conference All-Conference honors as well as had the Freshman of the Year in the Mid-South both years. Both teams were named the ITA Community Service award winners presented annually to a team that gives back to their campus and their community through tennis and non-tennis pathways.
In his first season he led the men's program to a 13-7 overall record, Mid-South Conference Regular Season Champs and a trip to the National Tournament making the second round and finishing the season ranked top 16 in NAIA and Lins earned Coach of the Year awards by the conference.
The 2019-2020 the season was shortened by COVID. His third season as a head coach in 2020-2021 was a very successful one achieving a 13-7 overall record, runner-up of the Mid-South Conference tournament as a team, having five student-athletes earning All Mid-South Conference, staying ranked top 20 NAIA as well as earning ITA Community service award by having a great impact to the community during the school year.
Last season the program reached record heights winning several awards such as ITA community service award once again, highest Team GPA on campus with a 3.74 overall combined, team staying ranked inside top 16 NAIA for the entire season, beating the highest ranked team in the nation(Indiana Wesleyan), five student-athletes earning All Conference awards and rookie of the year.
During all of his coaching years at CU, Coach Lins has led his teams to earn NAIA Scholar Team and ITA Scholar Team every season as well as maintaining an incredible high team GPA and being successful off the court helping out with the community.
Lins played for 2 years at Seward County Community College in Liberal, KS and then transferred to Bethel University in Tennessee from 2005-2008.
As a college player, he was ranked in the top 20 in Singles and Doubles during his career and as a team they were ranked in the Top 5 in the NAIA rankings and appeared in three straight national tournaments. After graduating college, Coach Lins worked at several tennis facilities, including Tennis Pro at Idle Hour Club in GA, Director of Tennis at The Westside Club in SC, Junior and Adult Tennis Coordinator at Midtown Athletic Club in GA, Head Tennis Pro for Genesis Health Clubs in Salina, KS, as well as the Student Assistant Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach for Bethel University and assistant men's and women's coach at Central Christian College in Kansas.
He has worked at several clinics as a special guest in Colombia, Brazil, Italy and around the US, working alongside legends of the game such as Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Roy Emerson, Mark Phillippoussis, Mark Woodforde, and several others players that were grand slam champions.
