Van Emburgh attended the University of Kentucky and was chosen twice for the All-American selection. In 1987 he reached the semi-finals of the NCAA championships in doubles and the quarter-finals in singles. In 1988 he became a professional tennis player and won the Challenger tournaments in Las Vegas and Acapulco alongside Shelby Cannon . At the side of Alexander Mronz , he won his first double title on the ATP Tour that same year . In the course of his career he won six ATP tournaments in doubles, eight more times he was in a final. He reached his highest ranking in the ATP world rankings in singles in 1989 with position 253 and in doubles in 1993 with position 38.
After the end of his professional career, he became an assistant coach at his former university. He later became head coach at the University of Wisconsin . Greg Van Emburgh is married and has two children.