Kenny Thorne


Kenny Thorne is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Thorne played collegiately for Georgia Tech from 1985 to 1988, and then played professionally from 1989 to 1997. He is currently the head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's tennis team.

College career

Thorne played four seasons for Georgia Tech and saw success both as a singles and doubles player. In doubles, he competed in the 1988 NCAA doubles tournament with partner, Bryan Shelton, after a 24-win doubles season. Thorne finished with 75 career doubles wins.
As a singles player, he finished with a.717 career win percentage – 10th highest in school history. He won an ACC singles championship in 1986. Thorne qualified for the NCAA singles tournament twice, in 1986 and 1988. He finished as the Georgia Tech career leader in singles victories with 112 wins.
Thorne was named an ITA All-American in 1988. In the same year, he was awarded the ITA John Van Nostrand Memorial Award. He finished his Georgia Tech playing career as a four-time All-ACC honoree. He was also twice named captain of the team and was an Academic All-ACC honoree. Kenny Thorne was later inducted into the Georgia Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.

College singles records

  • Season wins : 22, 1987–88
  • Season wins : 43, 1987–88

Professional career

Thorne enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won two doubles titles, and achieved a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 67 in 1995.

Coaching

Thorne was named the head coach of the Yellow Jackets men's tennis team in 1998. His team has reached the NCAA Championship Tournament 12 times in his 18 years as head coach. He has twice been named ACC Coach of the Year– 1999 and 2017. In 2011, he was awarded ITA National Coach of the Year.

Personal life

Kenny Thorne is married to former Georgia Tech cross country standout and inductee to the school's Hall of Fame, Bridget Koster. They have four children, two daughters, Rachel and Kenedy, and two sons, Zachary and Daniel. Rachel is currently a distance runner on the Yellow Jacket track team. Kenny Thorne earned an Industrial Engineering degree from Georgia Tech in 1989.