Russ Bucklin

Russ Bucklin is a self-taught tennis player and coach.  As a player Russ played #1 for Mountlake Terrace High School his senior year and later played #1 for Bellevue CC where he compiled a 27 and 1 win/loss combined singles/doubles, falling short of an undefeated season in his final singles match of the year.  Russ went on to play #1 for Seattle University before his eligibility ran out.  Russ has continued to compete locally in USTA tournaments and leagues, achieving #1 PNW rankings in both singles and doubles in the 45 and over age category as well as earning trips to nationals in 5.0 Men’s and 10.0 Mixed double USTA League tennis.  

As a coach Russ has mainly worked with students privately with a number of students reaching #1 local and national rankings as well as top 100 World Junior rankings.  Russ’s students have competed at the highest levels of tennis up to and including the US Open as well as every level of college tennis.

Russ is the inaugural coach of EPS Boys tennis and as head coach has created a strong environment of encouragement and inclusiveness.  All players are welcome regardless of experience and we have a “no cut” policy.  Further, we do our best to make sure that every player who turns out for tennis will play in at least one varsity match, regardless of their level of play.  We wish to inspire our players to want to play year-round and we want them to have the best possible experience as a member of the EPS team.   In our first 6 years we have climbed from obscurity to finish 4th and 3rd in WA State team rankings and we have three 2nd places finishes in State singles and one State doubles championship.