How does among the finest male gamers in tennis historical past select a brand new coach?
Choose any person who has been there with you — and who you beat to get there. Novak Djokovic’s choice to rent Andy Murray for no less than the Australian Open has renewed curiosity in one of the attention-grabbing psychological relationships in sport: The tennis participant and their coach.
Djokovic has all the time sought out a coach who has scaled the mountain he selected, hiring Boris Becker, Andre Agassi and Goran Ivanisevic all through his profession, all of them, like Murray, former Wimbledon champions and a number of main winners, Ivanisevic aside. He wants the voice of somebody who he respects and who’s comfortable to have it out with him mid-match — till they aren’t. Just a few months after Djokovic and Ivanisevic parted methods in March this 12 months, six seasons and 12 main titles within the financial institution, Ivanisevic defined that they merely ran out of endurance with one another.
Djokovic’s choice comes on the again of a reshuffle on the high of the WTA Tour, with world No. 2 Iga Swiatek, world No. 3 Coco Gauff, world No. 6 Elena Rybakina and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka all firing after which hiring within the wake of the U.S. Open in a bid to resume their video games, work on method, strengthen relationships, acquire an edge — or fairly, a mixture of all this stuff that’s distinctive to every participant’s priorities and every coach’s manner of working. That blend can win titles and encourage careers, nevertheless it had higher work, with gamers and their groups on the highway collectively and dealing at shut quarters for virtually all the 12 months.
“I imagine that if I had a family and kids, I would not be here at all,” world No. 18 Marta Kostyuk’s coach Sandra Zaniewska stated in an interview with The Athletic earlier this 12 months.
A technical grasp or a sideline hype grasp? A confirmed champion or a creating prospect? Gamers and coaches alike have myriad selections to make in selecting one another.
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There are all types of things that go into selecting a coach. Generally gamers wish to work on one thing technical, whether or not a shot or a floor. Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka introduced in former Wimbledon champion Richard Kraijeck in 2016 to enhance his grass-court tennis; Roger Federer and Murray did the identical factor for clay with Jose Higueras and Alex Corretja respectively.
Djokovic employed Ivanisevic — who’s now with Rybakina — partly to enhance his serve, rising its fluency and turning Djokovic into one of the feared and exact servers within the sport within the early 2020s. In quest of a greater internet recreation, Djokovic employed Australian participant Mark Woodforde, who received 11 Grand Slam doubles titles with fellow ‘Woody’ Mark Woodbridge; he employed former U.S. Open finalist Todd Martin to work on his serve earlier in his profession with much less profitable outcomes.
Technical modifications had been the primary motivation behind Gauff’s choice to separate with Brad Gilbert, with whom she received the U.S. Open in 2023. Gilbert coached Gauff to deflect the vulnerabilities in her serve and forehand by turning matches into battles of protection and attrition; he would inform her to hit her forehand with a gradual, looping arc to neutralize assaults. When opponents figured this out — and her serve stored letting her down — it was time for a change, not simply in her recreation however in the kind of teaching that might assist her progress.
“JC” has labored with Gauff beforehand and gamers typically return to coaches they know and belief. Djokovic went again to long-time coach Marian Vajda in 2018 earlier than they break up for a second time 4 years later. Murray did likewise, bringing Ivan Lendl again in 2016 after the latter had stepped down two years earlier, after which once more for a 3rd spell in 2022. As when soccer golf equipment sack and rent managers, availability is the intangible that continues to be out of gamers’ management and selecting a well-known face may be simpler than going into the unknown, particularly within the case of Djokovic, 37, who doesn’t have a lot time left in his profession to take a punt on one thing new.
Gauff switched from a tactical to a technical focus in her teaching staff (Artur Widak / NurPhoto through Getty Pictures)
Emma Raducanu is one other participant centered on bettering a particular shot — typically the serve or forehand. If she doesn’t really feel it’s working, she is fast to maneuver on. Torben Beltz, who was introduced in to enhance Raducanu’s forehand in November 2021, was sacked 5 months later when it was felt that inadequate progress was being made. Raducanu doesn’t need a hype man or girl, however technical experience.
Probably the most profitable examples of technical focus in latest instances comes from ladies’s world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who remodeled her serve with the assist of biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan after it fully broke down in 2022.
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It’s one thing Swiatek, who Sabalenka dethroned as world No. 1 in October, is on the lookout for from her new relationship with Wim Fissette. Fissette, who has had Grand Slam-winning success with Kim Clijsters, Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka, is likely one of the most distinguished coaches on the WTA Tour. Their uniting supplied a window into the mutual concerns that gamers and coaches undertake when starting a relationship, which representatives from each have defined over the previous few weeks.
On a private degree, Swiatek appreciated Fissette’s listening abilities, which gamers and buddies stated is considered one of his defining traits as a coach in interviews with The Athletic final month.
“The communication was kind of smooth. He also let me talk a lot and he was able to listen to me and this was pretty fun,” Swiatek stated. Fissette instructed Eurosport final month that he needed to work with Swiatek after splitting with former world No. 1 Osaka, who switched to working with Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou in September.
“Not only because she is No. 1 in the world but also because of her personality, which is a role model for other tennis players,” Fissette stated.
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Persona is the opposite deciding consider player-coach relationships: Not simply whether or not they work or not, however how lengthy they may final. Whereas gamers are sometimes the extra ruthless get together in ending partnerships regardless of the now de rigueur mutually gushy Instagram bulletins, coaches can generally take the choice.
Fissette was working with world No. 5 Zheng Qinwen when he determined to rejoin Osaka’s staff final 12 months, a choice which left Zheng blindsided and heartbroken. Zheng has since reunited with Pere Riba, who helped her to an Olympic gold medal and a primary Grand Slam last in 2024. They’ve a unusual dynamic whereby throughout apply classes at a event, Zheng dictates the classes, however Riba calls the photographs in coaching; they found out the compromise after studying one another’s personalities, a crucial course of in each relationship.
“You obviously have to get along with the person. You have to be able to respond well to them.”
“If you come at me with a drill-sergeant-type mentality, I’m going to go the other way.”
Patrick McEnroe, who has been guiding gamers since retiring in 1998, labored with Tiafoe on the Laver Cup exhibition occasion. “He brings a certain energy to everyone around him, so obviously you’ve got to understand that coming in.”
Mouratoglou, who coached Simona Halep and Holger Rune between Williams and Osaka, described the have to be a “chameleon” in a latest Zoom interview forward of his arrival in London for Final Tennis Showdown, his principal pursuit outdoors of teaching.
Mouratoglou with Osaka in Beijing earlier this 12 months (Robert Prange / Getty Pictures)
“My job is to understand I cannot be the same every time,” he stated.
“Serena wanted to really feel that she was answerable for all the pieces. In case you don’t win the title, it’s nothing. It’s No. 1 or nothing.
“Simona was the opposite, she wanted me to be in control of everything.” After Halep had a panic assault on the 2022 French Open, Mouratoglou realized he needed to again off the depth that had labored with Williams.
“She felt the pressure of having to deliver was hurting her. I completely changed the way I was interacting with her.” Halep then reached the Wimbledon semifinals earlier than being provisionally suspended in October 2022 after testing optimistic for roxadustat. Tennis integrity authorities suspended her for 4 years in 2023 earlier than the Courtroom of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) lowered the ban to 9 months on attraction in March this 12 months after accepting that the optimistic check got here from a contaminated complement. Mouratoglou stated he felt “responsible” for Halep’s case in an Instagram video in 2023.
Now working with Osaka, Mouratoglou stated the previous world No. 1 is “a very interesting personality” however “not easy to understand because she’s very secretive and keeps a lot inside.”
“I think in terms of game and work to do, we are really on the same page. But there is this piece that is very important, which is understanding the person that she is. That will take more time.”
Within the sea of latest modifications, world No. 1 Sabalenka has been an oasis of calm. She prioritizes coaches who can perceive her distinctive character and has constructed a relationship along with her long-time coaches Jason Stacy and Anton Dubrov over time after some “really bad experiences” that left her “betrayed”.
“I was looking for someone who can understand that even if I go crazy on court, it’s nothing personal.”
“Anton, I knew him, since I don’t know 15, as a result of he was within the academy after I was practising.
“With Jason, it took us two years to open up and trust him fully and to understand him as a person and I’m really glad I didn’t kick him out.”
Sabalenka has discovered success in stability after remodelling her serve with a specialist (Robert Prange / Getty Pictures)
That worth may be exhausting to quantify. In Djokovic’s case, the rarefied degree at which he operates means it’ll possible come down as to whether Murray can present the precise type of power to assist him recover from the road for an eleventh time on the Australian Open. Murray’s means to soak up and defuse the frustration that comes his manner from Djokovic, similar to his coaches needed to attempt to do when he was hurling invective their manner throughout his personal profession, could also be his greatest asset because the rivals turned companions set up an important ingredient of any relationship.
“The main thing is to trust them,” world No. 4 Jasmine Paolini instructed The Athletic in Riyadh.
(Prime photographs: Getty Pictures; design: Kelsea Pietersen)
