Katarina Adamovic - Tennis Coach - University of Houston Athletics

Katarina Adamovic

Position:
Head Coach

Katarina Adamovic served as the Head Coach of Houston Tennis from 2025-2026. in 2026, Adamovic led Houston to its first 11-0 start since 1990 with eight-straight sweeps to open th season for the first time in program history. Among those eight sweeps the first five were all on the road which was a first for the program. She helped coach a pair of Big 12 Tennis Players of the Week as Valeriia Krokhotina and Chems Doha Zeghlouli earned the honor during the season.

Adamovic helped the Cougars to a 17-6 record and an 8-6 ledger in conference action. Houston finished tied for sixth in the league and qualified for the Big 12 Tournament. Zeghlouli and Sophie Schouten earned All-Big 12 Second Team Doubles honors for the first postseason awards since 2023 and the first for the Cougars since as a member of the Big 12.

Schouten and Krokhotina went 17-1 and 14-1 respectively in singles and finished the year at second and third in the program's single-season singles winning percentage.

Back-to-back WAC Tournament Champion and 2024 WAC Coach of the Year Adamovic was named the eighth head coach in University of Houston Tennis history in June 2024.

Adamovic led the Cougars to their first 3-0 start since the 2018 season with back-to-back sweeps to open the season for the first time since 2008. Under her direction, Santa Strombacha was the first Cougar ranked in the ITA preseason poll since 2015 as Strombacha ended the fall campaign ranked #79.

Strombacha was also selected to the ITA All-American Championships, markign the first player to represent Houston at the Championships since 2017.

In her first season, Adamovic guided Houston to four ranked wins (two in singles, two in doubles) and their first Big 12 in program history.

Gabriela Cortes, Sophie Schouten and Santa Strombacha were named to the Spring Academic All-Big 12 Team while all seven student-athletes earn a spot on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.

Adamovic comes to Houston after spending two seasons as the head coach at Grand Canyon University where she led the Lopes to the 2024 WAC Regular Season Championship and back-to-back WAC Tournament crowns to advance to two-straight NCAA Tournaments for the first time in program history.

In 2024, Adamovic coached Natasha Puehse to WAC Player of the Year and tournament MVP honors and helped two other student-athletes reach First-Team All-WAC recognition en route to an undefeated record in conference play. Among those First-Team All-Conference honorees were Santa Strombacha, who set a GCU Division I record with 22 singles wins.

The Lopes made their first-ever appearance in the ITA rankings, reaching as high as No. 49 in the nation before finishing 2024 at No. 57.

During her first season at GCU in 2023, the Lopes finished with 15 wins, including an 8-2 record at home, tying a GCU Division I record. Adamovic coached six Lopes to All-WAC awards, including four first-team honors from Puehse and Strombacha.

A native of Cacak, Serbia, Adamovic began her coaching career at Cincinnati as an assistant coach for the women's tennis team from 2018-21. The Bearcats finished with winning records in her first two seasons on staff and advanced to the quarterfinals of the American Athletics Conference Tournament in 2018, the program's best finish in three seasons.

Following her stint at Cincinnati, Adamovic spent the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach at Missouri. While on staff, the Tigers recorded their second-best finish in the SEC, one of the toughest conferences in the country.

As a player, Adamovic was a top 20-ranked collegiate player at a perennial powerhouse, and had a decorated career at Oklahoma State, capped by being named 2016 NCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player. The four-time Big 12 All-Conference selection led Oklahoma State to back-to-back Big 12 Championships in 2016 and 2017.

A testament to her competitive fire and positive leadership, Adamovic drew the attention of the Oklahoma State women's basketball coaching staff at the end of her tennis career and awarded her with a scholarship for the 2017-18 season. The staff recognized the positive impact she could bring to the team culture as she put the finishing touches on her degree.

Adamovic appeared in three games on the hardwood that season and was a key off-the-court influence on a team that went 21-11 and won an NCAA Tournament game.

Finishing her collegiate playing career with 75 singles and 91 doubles victories, Adamovic's .789 doubles win percentage ranks No. 1 in Oklahoma State history since the school joined the Big 12 in 1996.

Adamovic was selected to the NCAA Singles Championships and had a breakout junior year in 2016, when she finished 32-3 in doubles and 23-11 in singles earning All-American honors. She also advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championships and finished at No. 17 in the ITA singles rankings.

In 2016, Adamovic led the Cowgirls to the national championship match, ultimately finishing as runner-up to Stanford. For her efforts, Adamovic was named the NCAA Tournament MVP and advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Singles Championship.

In her youth career, Adamovic was a Serbian national champion in the seniors, U18, U16, U10 and junior divisions. She was ranked in the WTA in singles and doubles.