Fine men's tennis has been visible on the Haverford campus for well over 100 years as the college has always been well-represented in this skillful sport.

Early head coach Norm Bramall epitomized the Haverford tradition of good play and sportsmanship, with players Jim Schnaars ’45 and G. Diehl Mateer ’50 dominating the Middle Atlantic region. Bramall’s teams stayed strong into the ’60s with Bob Kelly ’61, Spencer Quill ’63, Jim House ’65, and Bob Swift ’68 (a 2020 inductee into the Haverford College Hall of Achievement) as leaders.

Under Marty Gilbert, later one of the major figures in introducing tennis to Israel, the ’70s became another strong decade with 2016 Hall of Achievement inductee Pete Steenbergen ’77 and Richie Marks ’81 reaching the highest levels as the NCAA initiated Division III competition. Madrid native Jose Velasco ’84 also reached the NCAAs as one of the first stars under ex-Penn Stater Albert Dillon.

Dillon's major accomplishments included the addition of squash teams, and transition to use of an indoor surface, possible only since 1983-84 when Versaturf, a polyurethane, allowed regular play in Alumni Field House. Instead of matches being rained out and rescheduled, they were moved indoors on the original date from ’84 on.

Dillon also positioned Haverford extremely well in the Centennial Conference, when play in that league began in 1994. Scotsman Bruce Nisbet ’95 and Justin Annes ’96, a skilled doubles team as well as outstanding No. 1 singles stars, were among a select group of Centennial players to be selected twice to the all-league first team.

Dillon ended his 17-year tenure in 1997, and former long-time Williams College coach Sean Sloane replaced him. With the experienced Sloane, also an internationally-known tennis educator and referee, in charge, the Bramall-Gilbert-Dillon tradition continued to prosper. Sloane led the Fords to back-to-back second-place Centennial Conference finishes in 2003 and 2004 and a conference doubles championship - by the duo of Harrison Lee ’04 and Aaron Scherb ’04 - in 2004, and a 13-4 record in 2006 and 2007. The Fords also treed their way to another 13-4 record and to the Centennial Conference finals match.

The 2009 team defeated Swarthmore to reach the Centennial Conference finals, led by NCAA III All-Americans Alex Buxbaum ’09 and Tom Kinrade ’09. The 2013 squad, a conference tournament finalist led by all-American Kevin Caulfield ’13 and Centennial Rookie of the Year Luis Acaba ’16, downed Swarthmore in the regular season for the first time in more than 60 years. Caulfield closed out his career with an appearance in the NCAA D-III 2013 singles tournament where he advanced into the round of 16 before falling to the eventual singles champion.

Head coach Sean Sloane announced his retirement following the 2017-18 academic year. Sloane finished his career with 214 victories in tennis after also spending time as the men’s and women’s squash during his 21 years leading the Fords. Under Sloane’s leadership, Haverford advanced to the semifinals of the Centennial Conference Tournament during 12 of the first 13 seasons since the tournament’s inception. That included three appearances in the Centennial Conference Championship match.

Brendan Kincaid was named as Sloane’s successor prior to the 2018-19 academic year and coached both the Centennial Conference Player of the Year, Josh Moskovitz ’19, and Centennial Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Kevin Yan ’20, in his inaugural season.