David Witt (born June 2, 1973) is an American tennis coach and former professional player. He is currently coaching Peyton Stearns. Before that, he coached Aleksandar Kovacevic and is best known as the former long-time coach of Venus Williams and Jessica Pegula. He enjoyed a successful junior career, during which time he won the USTA Boys' 16s Clay, Hard and National Championships and was the top-ranked under-16 in the USTA in 1989. He was also a semifinalist at the US Open Junior Boys Singles event in 1991.

Career His closest career win on the main tour was in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, where he and Brian MacPhie were runners-up in the doubles in 1994. He did win two challenger-level events in his career: Guadalajara, Mexico in 1992 and the Levene Gouldin & Thompson Tennis Challenger at Binghamton, New York in 1997. He retired from professional tennis in 2005.

Coaching In 2002, while working as the resident pro at the Deerwood Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida, Witt was approached by the Williams sisters to act as a hitting partner during their participation at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at nearby Amelia Island. In 2007, they asked him to accompany them to Charleston, South Carolina for the Family Circle Cup. Since then he acted as a travelling hitting partner for both women, most notably for elder sister Venus. In December 2018, Venus ended the 11-year partnership.

David Witt coached Jessica Pegula from July 2019 to January 2024. In March 2024, Witt began coaching Maria Sakkari, and several months later, in July he started a collaboration with Frances Tiafoe, which ended in October 2025. In January 2026, Aleksandar Kovacevic hired Witt as a coach to start the 2026 season.

ATP career finals Doubles: 1 (runner-up) LegendGrand Slam Tournaments (0–0)ATP Masters Series (0–0)ATP Championship Series (0–0)ATP World Series (0–1)Finals by surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (0–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)Finals by settingOutdoors (0–1)Indoors (0–0)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Birmingham, United StatesWorld SeriesClay Brian MacPhie Richey Reneberg Christo van Rensburg6–2, 3–6, 2–6

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals Singles: 4 (2–2) LegendATP Challenger (2–2)ITF Futures (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (1–2)Clay (1–0)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0-1Whistler Mountain, CanadaChallengerHard Fabio Silberberg5–7, 3–6Win1-1Guadalajara, MexicoChallengerClay Mark Koevermans6–4, 6–3Loss1-2Binghamton, United StatesChallengerHard Leander Paes4–6, 2–6Win2-2Binghamton, United StatesChallengerHard Brian MacPhie6–2, 6–4

Doubles: 4 (2–2) LegendATP Challenger (2–1)ITF Futures (0–1)Finals by surfaceHard (1–1)Clay (1–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0Winnetka, United StatesChallengerHard Brian MacPhie Doug Flach Wade McGuire7–5, 6–2Loss1–1Flushing Meadows, United StatesChallengerHard Michael Joyce Geoff Grant Mark Merklein1–6, 4–6Win2–1Birmingham, United StatesChallengerClay Doug Flach Eyal Erlich Eric Taino6–4, 7–5Loss2–2USA F11, Orange ParkFuturesClay Scott Melville Levar Harper-Griffith Chris Kwon5–7, 3–6

Performance timelines

Singles Tournament199019911992199319941995199619971998SRW–LWin %Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAAAQ3AAA1R0 / 10–1French OpenAAAQ2Q3Q2AAA0 / 00–0WimbledonAQ1Q1Q31RQ2AAQ10 / 10–1US Open1R1RQ21R2RAAQ1Q10 / 41–4Win–loss0–10–10–00–11–20–00–00–00–10 / 61–6ATP Tour Masters 1000Indian WellsAAAQ1Q1AAAA0 / 00–0MiamiA2RAQ1Q3AQ1AQ10 / 11–1CanadaAAAAAAAAQ10 / 00–0CincinnatiAAAQ3AAAAA0 / 00–0Win–loss0–01–10–00–00–00–00–00–00–00 / 11–1

Doubles Tournament19911992199319941995199619971998SRW–LWin %Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAAAAAAA0 / 00–0French OpenAAA1RAAAA0 / 10–1WimbledonAAQ3Q2AAAQ10 / 00–0US Open1RA3R2RAA2RQ10 / 44–4Win–loss0–10–02–11–20–00–01–10–00 / 54–5ATP Tour Masters 1000MiamiAAQ2AAAAA0 / 00–0Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00 / 00–0

References

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