UPDATED September 15, 2023
Dennis Royal joined the Wayne State University women's tennis coaching staff as an assistant in the fall of 2014. He concluded his ninth season as an assistant coach in the spring of 2023.
Royal is currently the Director of Tennis at the Saginaw Athletic Club.
In his nine years assisting head coach Sheila Snyder, the Warriors have won three GLIAC regular-season titles, five GLIAC Tournament Championships, advanced to the NCAA Tournament six times (2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023) and compiled an overall record of 159-61.
He played collegiately for two years at the University of Cincinnati before helping Wayne State to the 1981 GLIAC Championship. Royal played three years on the satellite circuit before becoming the Junior Tennis Director at the Midland Community Tennis Center, a position he held for over nine years (1985-94). In addition to all his responsibilities with the junior program, he also developed top players such as Anne Miller and Meredith McGrath.
Royal, a member of the USPTA since 1986, also spent nearly five years in Switzerland coaching Megan Moulton-Levy. Upon returning to the United States, he worked at the Sports Club of West Bloomfield where he taught junior and adult classes.
He was the men’s tennis head coach at WSU for two seasons (2006-07 and 2007-08) where he led the team to back-to-back NCAA Division II tournament appearances.
He also served as the West Bloomfield High School girls tennis team coach and led them to a top-10 finish in the state.
