Pauri Pandian was named Brandeis's Director of Tennis in August of 2025. In addition to his duties as head coach of the women's team, he will serve as a mentor for the men’s team and its new head coach. Pandian will provide strategic oversight and guidance, serving as a resource and support for both men’s and women’s tennis student-athletes and alumni.
Pandian enters his sixth season as head coach of women's tennis coach in 2025-26. He also coached the Brandeis men's team from 2019 through 2021.
In 2024, he helped the Judges remain among the top 40 teams in Division III and top 10 in their region for the third year in a row. Rebecca Suarez '26 and Bhakti Parwani '25 were ranked second in the Northeast Region in doubles and among the top 20 nationally, finishing 16th. They earned just the second-ever berth for a Brandeis women's doubles team to the NCAA Tournament. Parwani and Suarez have also been nationally-ranked in singles during their careers, and were ranked 20th in Division III the year before their NCAA run.
In 2025, the team's national-ranking streak extended to four seasons in a row. Suarez and Parwani returned to the NCAA Division III Doubles tournament for the first time in their careers, and Suarez became the third woman from Brandeis to qualify for both singles and doubles in the same season. In both of their first-round matches, the Judges extended their opponent to a third set. Suarez finished in the top 40 of the ITA rankings as a team and as an individual.
Over the last five years, his women's tennis recruiting classes have been ranked among the top 20 in Division III, including the Class of 2027, who were ranked among the top 10 nationally.
In his first campaign as head coach of men's and women's tennis at Brandeis in 2019, Pandian saw two of his players earn All-American honors, David Aizenberg '20 and Anupreeth Coramutla '21. Aizenberg became just the second Brandeis player named an All-American in both singles and doubles in the same year, while Coramutla was honored in doubles.
Pandian led the Brandeis men to a historic 2021 season. Brandeis went 6-1 during the regular season and earned the program's first NCAA tournament berth since 1989. The Judges won their first two tournament matches over Grove City, 5-0, and Southern Virginia, 5-3, to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in team history. Additionally, the team earned three All-America honors, with Coramutla getting recognized for his singles play after winning a first-round match in the NCAA Singles Championship, and Jeff Chen '22 and Adam Tzeng '22 making a run to the finals of the NCAA Doubles tournament, the best doubles finish in team history. For his efforts, Pandian was named the ITA Northeast Region Coach of the Year.
In four years from 2015 to 2019 at Wheaton, Pandian's teams totaled 59 combined wins, reaching the semifinals of the NEWMAC tournament with both the men's and women's teams in both 2018 and 2019. He helped the Lyons develop the 2019 NEWMAC Women's Tennis Athlete of the Year, Ines DeBracamonte. Wheaton teams also earned the ITA's All-Academic Team Award three times in his tenure. Off the court, Pandian's teams have been involved with Team IMPACT and the Greater Norton Food Bank.
Pandian was an assistant coach under previous coach Ben Lamanna at Brandeis for four years from 2011 through 2015. In his final season with the Judges as an assistant, Pandian was named the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Division III Coach of the Year for women's tennis and was the Northeast Regional Coach of the Year for both the men and women. During his tenure, the Brandeis women were nationally-ranked each year, and Carley Cooke '15 graduated as the Judges' most decorated women's tennis player in program history, winning five All-America honors. The Brandeis men also had numerous All-University Athletic Association honorees during that span.
Prior to Brandeis, Pandian served as the head coach Beaver Country Day School in Brookline.
Pandian graduated from Wesleyan University in 2008, double majoring in English and Religion. A four-year starter and captain his senior year, Pauri played in every spot in the singles and doubles lineup throughout his career.
