Carlos Goffi - Tournament Tough

Carlos Goffi began playing tennis at the Tennis Club of Sao Paulo, where his father was its President. He represented his native Brazil in renowned international tournaments such as the South American Championships, Orange Bowl, Wimbledon, and Galea Cup. In 1970, Carlos became one of the pioneer student athletes from his native Brazil to attend college in the US where he spent 3 years at the University of Corpus Christi (#3 in NCAA Division I) and his senior year at the University of Kansas, where he received degrees in Psychology and Business Administration.

Goffi's multi-faceted entrepreneurial career began as a professional tennis coach and author. His coaching career began in 1975 at the Port Washington Tennis Academy in New York, by recommendation from his mentor Harry Hopman. He became its Junior Program Director and worked closely with the Academy’s top junior players, which included John McEnroe. Carlos is a former coach to John and his brother Patrick on the ATP Tour.

His best seller Tournament Tough, A Guide to Junior Championship Tennis, with Commentary by John McEnroe, was published worldwide in 1984 when John was the best player in the world.  The book's success led him to other tennis contributions including the publishing of Junior Tennis magazine; a nationwide tour of Tournament Tough Player/Parent Workshops sponsored by Nike, Dunlop, Ray-Ban and the USTA; as well as the Nike Tournament Tough Camps, which he directed for over 30 years.  

Goffi has been a keynote speaker at various international tennis conferences, including the USTA, USPTA/PTR, and ITF.  He was voted Coach of the Year by his peers in 1991. Amongst the clubs and resorts he operated in his professional career are the Tennis Complex at Walt Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports, where he hosted major tennis events including Prince Harry's Invictus Games; Orange Lawn Tennis Club, NJ, where he hosted the ATP pre-US Open tournament; and Seabrook Island, SC where, together with Peter Fleming, they developed its tennis program into one of the top tennis resort destinations. Carlos also directed Tennis Promotions for Dunlop Slazenger and Tennis Marketing for Nike in Latin America.  He is the recipient of the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award by GPTCA (Global Profession Tennis Coach Association).

His son Josh is a former ATP/Davis Cup player and, presently, the Men’s Tennis Coach for the University of South Carolina.