Pawel Gajdzik was named the IU Indy Women’s Tennis Head Coach on August 22, 2022. He joins IU Indy from Purdue University where he spent the last 13 years as the men’s tennis head coach. During the time in West Lafayette his teams reached several program bests, and he finished his tenure with 148 team wins.
- Gajdzik lead the program to NCAA Tournament Championships berths in 2014 and 2017 (2014 was the first trip to the tournament since 2002 and the 6th overall).
- Obtained the highest-ever team ranking in program history at No. 28
- In 2016, coached Gergely Madarasz, the program’s first All-Big Ten first-team selection since 2004… Madarasz was a unanimous selection … in 2016 also guided Madarasz to the program's highest singles ranking since 2001 at No. 39.
- Mentored walk-on Athell Bennett into one of the best players in program history, climbing as high as No. 20 in the nation, the second highest ranking ever by a Boilermaker, as a senior in 2020. Bennett was named the ITA National Most Improved Senior Player of the Year in 2020 – first ever such a recognition in the program’s history.
- Had Purdue’s first NCAA Singles Championship qualifier since 2001 in Madarasz in 2016, becoming just the third Boilermaker to qualify in program history.
- Developed the doubles team of Madarasz and Medenilla to one of the top duos in the nation. The pair reached the #4 ranking in the nation in 2016 - the highest ranking in the history of the program. The duo reached the semifinal of the ITA All American Tournament in Tulsa that year.
- Four season win totals rank among the program’s top 10 … 20 wins in 2017 ranks fourth, 19 wins in 2013 ranks fifth, 17 wins in 2016 tied for seventh and 15 wins in 2014 tied for 10th.
- Recorded the program’s biggest upset with a 6-1 win over No. 16 Penn State in 2014.
- Six times the Boilermakers have earned ITA All-Academic Team status (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016).
Gajdzik took over the Purdue program on Aug. 23, 2009, after spending the 2008-09 season as the head men's tennis coach at Northern Illinois. He led the Huskies to a 9-10 overall record, including a 3-2 Mid-American Conference mark that tied for second in the league, which was the highest for the school since 1997. The team advanced to the semifinals in the postseason MAC Conference Tournament.
The Huskies managed postseason acclaim as well during Gajdzik's tenure. Pawel Poziomski was named MAC Newcomer of the Year and All-MAC second team. Fellow freshman Jurica Grubisic was a first team All-MAC selection and junior Javier Bernabe was named to the second team. Gajdzik's 2009 recruiting class was named the No.1 mid-major class in the country by TennisRecruiting.net.
Before taking over at Northern Illinois in 2008, Gajdzik spent six seasons on the coaching staff at Baylor. The Bears won the 2004 NCAA title and the 2005 national indoor team title before earning a national runner-up finish in 2005. Baylor also advanced to the national semifinal in 2006 and 2007 and the national quarterfinals in 2003 and 2008. The Bears brought six consecutive Big XII Conference championships and five Big XII tournament titles back to Waco while Gajdzik was on staff.
Gajdzik directed 2004 NCAA singles champion Benjamin Becker and 2005 NCAA singles champion Benedikt Dorsch. They were two of the five All-Americans to play at Baylor under Gajdzik. In addition to his coaching duties at Baylor, Gajdzik founded PG Tennis Academy and pursued a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology while also teaching classes at both Baylor and Navarro Junior College.
During his playing days at Baylor, Gajdzik won the 1998 Big XII Conference singles and doubles titles and was named the conference's Newcomer of the Year while leading the team to its first NCAA tournament appearance. In his first season of collegiate tennis, he was ranked as high as 17th in singles and was in the top 20 in the doubles rankings with two different partners. His 8-0 conference mark that season still stands as the best single-season mark in school history.
The following year, Baylor put together a 25-4 record and advanced to the national quarterfinals. In 2000, Gajdzik won another Big XII doubles crown, and was named team MVP while leading the Bears to the first men's team conference title in school history and a berth into the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championship. He finished up his 3-year career at Baylor with a 74-34 singles record and the highest singles winning percentage in school history at .685. After more than 20 years since his graduation, several of Gajdzik records still hold top-10 spots in the Baylor Tennis record books.
Prior to coming to the United States, Gajdzik, a native of Szczecin, Poland, was an ATP ranked player in singles and doubles, won a Polish National Championship, and was ranked top-5 nationally in every age category throughout his junior career.
Gajdzik is married to the former Elizabeth Solomon. The couple has a daughter, Natalia, and a son, Lukas.
Coaching Experience And ACCOMPLISHMENTS
August 2009 – June 2022
Head Men’s Tennis Coach, Purdue University
- 2017 ITA Ohio Valley Region Coach of the Year
- 2017 Finalist for ITA Wilson National Coach of the Year
- NCAA Public Recognition Award for posting a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) among top 10 percent in the nation in men’s tennis
- 53 Academic All-Conference selections
- 30 ITA Scholar-Athlete selections
- 13 All-Big Ten Selections
- 12 ITA Ohio Valley Region Selections
- 2020 ITA National Most Improved Senior Player of the Year Selection
- Reached highest ITA ranking in the program history at #28 in the nation
- Most wins in a single season since 1987
- Highest ranked doubles team in program history (#4 in the nation)
- NCAA Tournament singles qualifier (3rd in program history)
- 2014 and 2017 NCAA Tournament team appearance (6th and 7th in the program history)
- 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 ITA National Team Indoor Championship selections
- Mentored 2016 and 2017 ITA Ohio Valley Assistant Coach of the Year selections
- 4 ITA Ohio Valley Region Rookie of the Year selections (2014, 2017, 2019, 2020)
- 2 ITA Ohio Valley Region Senior Player of the Year selections (2017, 2020)
- ITA Ohio Valley Region Most Improved Senior of the Year (2020)
- 13 ITA nationally ranked singles players
- 10 ITA nationally ranked doubles teams
- 2013 Big Ten Singles Champion
- 7 Davis Cup Team selections
- 2017 29th Summer University Games selection
- BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge Tournament selections (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019)
- 6 ITA All-Academic Teams (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016)
- 2020 ITA Ohio Valley Region Team Community Service Award
- 2019 ITA Ohio Valley Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award
- 2017 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award
- Top-3 Alumni participation in the Varsity P - John Purdue Club Foundation based on the percentage number of Alumni giving back to the department and the program.
- Proven fundraising record for project that enhance Student- Athlete experience with improvements to the facilities that included Playsight live-stream and smart court installation and creation of a weight-room on site at the Schwartz Tennis Center
July 2008 – July 2009
Head Men’s Tennis Coach, Northern Illinois University
- Runner-Up MAC Conference regular season - highest finish since 1997
- Semifinal appearance in the MAC Conference Tournament
- #1 recruiting class in the nation among mid-major universities for 2009-2010 season
- #15 ranked recruiting class in the nation
- 3 All-MAC Team Conference selections
- MAC Conference Newcomer of the Year selection (2009)
- All-MAC Academic Team selection
August 2002 – June 2008
Assistant/Volunteer Coach, Baylor University
- 2004 NCAA National Team Championship
- 2005 NCAA National Indoor Championship
- 2005 NCAA National Team Championship Runner-Up
- NCAA tournament Quarterfinal 2003, 2008
- NCAA tournament Semi-final 2006, 2007
- 2003 NCAA singles tournament runner-up Benedikt Dorsch
- 2004 NCAA singles National Champion Benjamin Becker
- 2005 NCAA singles National Champion Benedikt Dorsch
- 5 All-American selections in singles and doubles from 2003
- 5 straight top 4 finishes in the final NCAA team polls since 2003
- 6 straight Big 12 Conference Championships from 2002-2007
- 5 Big 12 Conference Tournament Championships since 2002
Playing Experience
August 1997 – may 2000
Men’s Tennis Team, Baylor University
- Selected honors: Big 12 Champion in singles, doubles and team, Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Big 12 Player of the Week, NCAA qualifier singles, NCAA Elite Eight team, 3x All Big 12 First Team, Big 12 Commissioner Academic Honor Roll, Academic Team All-American, Team MVP
- Played valuable role in the transformation of a program to a national powerhouse reaching as high as number 3 in the country as a team during his time as a player.
- First ever school NCAA tournament bid in 1998, followed by quarterfinals in 1999, and round of sixteen in 2000
- Won school first Big 12 Conference championship in men’s sports in 2000 after finishing second in 1998 and 1999
- Finished up 3-year career with a 74-34 record and the highest singles winning percentage in school history at .685.
Prior to college
- ATP ranked player in singles and doubles
- Polish National Champion
- Ranked top 5 in the rankings throughout junior career
- Winner of many national and international tournaments
