Since 1895 when the first tennis court was constructed on the picturesque Rollins College campus, men's tennis has been a permanent fixture on the national collegiate tennis scene.

The Tars, who have competed in varsity men's tennis since 1909, have evolved into a small college powerhouse. Scores of well-known tennis names have donned the familiar Blue and Gold.

The legendary Jack Kramer competed for Rollins in 1941-42 along with two of the nation's top ranked amateurs, Edwin Amark and Eddie Allon.

Under the guidance of Coach Jim McDougall, Rollins won two 'mythical' national championships in 1948 and 1949 as the Tars went undefeated and beat the top teams in the East. Called one of the greatest to play at Rollins, Enrique Buse starred for the Tars along with Mexican champion Jose Ochoa. National junior champion Tom Malloy also played at Rollins from 1947-51.

Quietly, in 1946, a young player from Daytona Beach slipped onto the Rollins tennis team. Over the next five decades, the name Norm Copeland was synonymous with Rollins tennis. One of the top ranked junior players, Nathan Norman Copeland played on the two national championship teams in '48 and '49. Following his graduation in 1950, Copeland tried his hand on the professional tour and also taught the game he knows better than most.

When Copeland returned to Rollins as head tennis coach in 1955, a tennis dynasty was born. In his 38 year coaching career, Copeland led the Tars to three NCAA Division II National Championships (1966, 1972 and 1991), coached 30 All-Americans and guided Rollins to 27 straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Copeland is the third all-time winningest NCAA tennis coach at any level with his 732 career dual match victories.
In addition to the great team success, the Tars have won six individual national titles. Brian Talgo (1985) and Pat Emmet (1987) claimed the singles titles, while John Lowman won the NCAA doubles championships with Ron Lague in 1971 and with Mike Strickland in 1972. Barry Pelts and Robert Green were the most recent doubles winners in 1988.

The retirement of Copeland in 1993, the Tars have remained nationally competitive in Division II tennis. They have continued to be ranked nationally, and during the 2000-01 the NCAA II championship. The team previously reached the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament in 1994 and 1995 and the finals in 1996.

In 1994, the NCAA dropped the individual tournaments which have been replaced by the ITA/Rolex Small College National Championships played in the fall of each year. With continued success, two titles have been claimed since. Octavio deLa Sobera teamed with Edwin Hendrickson to win the title in 1996, and the team of Goran Sterijovski and Matt Porter claimed the 2000 National Rolex doubles title.

In 1993, Jim Poling took over the helm of the Tars. In his nine years as coach Poling led the Tars to a 147-79 dual match record, and reached the NCAA II Regional Tournament every year. The Tars won the national championship in 2001 posting a 25-3 season record. Poling was named SSC Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2002.

Ron Bohrnstedt followed Pohling as head coach of the Tars and led the team to the 2004 SSC Championship and the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. He was named SSC and South Region Coach of the Year in 2004 while Carlos Custodio, also the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year, and Mark Thompson earned All-America recognition. A youth movement hit the Tars in 2009 as Jeff Morris was named the Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year and joined senior Adrian Tan as an All-America selection in doubles. The following year, Morris was named the conference Player of the Year and garnered All-America honors in both singles and, with Neil Clausen, doubles.

ROLLINS COLLEGE TENNIS HISTORY