Tenisiści i ich trenerzy

[Kamileki]

[Kamileki]

Przed finałem Goran był bardzo pyszny: "The conditions at the French Open have never been more challenging and Ivanisevic believes these current condition suit better Djokovic than Nadal. "I'm counting on Novak - Nadal in the final, in which, in my opinion, Nadal has no chance in these conditions, on this clay and with Novak, who has got into his head.

I went a little too far, but in my opinion Novak is the number one favorite. He brought his body, his head and preparation to perfection. He prepares everything in detail, from tactics, technique, to nutrition, and he adheres to it."

Po finale Moya odniósł się do tych słów:

[Damian]

Goffin i Johansson zakończyli współpracę.

[Damian]

Lawina ruszyła.

FAA także zmienia sztab.

[DUN I LOVE]

Najwyższy czas, żeby Felix zatrudnił poważnego szkoleniowca.

[Damian]

Lequipe: Nicolas Renavand i Thierry Ascione dołączają do sztabu Lucasa Pouille'a.

[Damian]

Alberto Mancini nowym szkoleniowcem Fogniniego.

[Damian]

[Damian]

“Andrey Has Made Me A Better Coach”: Vicente Named 2020 Coach Of The Year

Spoiler:

First Spaniard to win Coach of the Year speaks exclusively to ATPTour.com

Former Spanish player Fernando Vicente has been voted Coach of the Year in the 2020 ATP Awards after guiding 23-year-old Andrey Rublev to a career-best breakthrough season.

The Spaniard has been working with Rublev for four years, with a front-row view to the Russian’s highs and lows: from ‘the toughest moment’ following the player’s 2018 spinal stress fracture, to his comeback and meteoric rise in 2020. Their hard work was rewarded as Rublev tore through the competition this year, winning a Tour-leading five titles and lifting his FedEx ATP Ranking to a career-high No. 8.

And for Vicente, it felt like a double victory as Rublev was also recognised with the 2020 Most Improved Player of the Year award by his ATP peers.

You May Also Like: 2020 ATP Awards: And The Winners Are...
“These awards, both mine and Andrey’s, are just a consequence of the years of hard work and countless hours dedicated to a sport that gives us so many emotions – for better or for worse,” Vicente said, speaking exclusively to ATPTour.com. “We’ve gone through some difficult times during these last almost five years together.

“Having the recognition from his peers is something that makes him feel so happy and appreciated. They also see Andrey day to day, how hard he works and tries each day to become a better player.”

The first Spanish coach to win Coach of the Year since the award’s inception in 2016, Vicente retired from professional tennis in 2011 after a career that took him as high as World No. 29. He also won three ATP Tour singles titles and two doubles crowns. His partnership with Rublev began in 2016 when the Russian arrived at the 4Slamtennis Academy, which Vicente co-founded with fellow players Galo Blanco and Jairo Velasco, near Barcelona.

"I would say Andrey has made me a better coach,” Vicente reflected. “I’ve learned and continue to learn a lot with him. I think that on my end, he understands what I’m trying to impart on him and there’s a very good personal connection, too. If not, it would be impossible to stay together so long.”


One of the qualities that Vicente highlights in his player is Rublev’s strong motivation and desire to continually improve as a player – something the Spaniard says makes his job “a pleasure”. It was this same quality that drove Rublev to new heights in 2020, despite the tough circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Tour’s resulting five-month stoppage.

The result was five titles from five finals for Rublev – including his first three at the ATP 500-level – a breakthrough into the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, and a debut at the Nitto ATP Finals. In addition to being the 23-year-old’s best season to date, it was also Vicente’s most successful year as a coach.

“At the end of the day, I’m the person who accompanies him and works in the best way possible to make sure that the dream he has and loves so much comes true in some way!” he said. “For me, it’s a pleasure to work with a player who is motivated all the time and works with such passion, always with the desire to keep improving.”

For Vicente, beyond the titles and accolades that Rublev achieved, the proudest moment of the season came away from the courts in the buildup to the Tour’s season-finale. Rublev was one of the last players to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in a battle that came down to the wire, and the Spaniard applauded the way his player handled himself through those pressure-filled moments.

“What I’ve been most pleased to see was Andrey’s steady mentality during the weeks where our objective was to reach the Nitto ATP Finals. Those were weeks with so much tension, and he managed to compete at a very high level.

“Of course, I’m pleased with almost everything. It was his best year in terms of [FedEx ATP] Ranking, he won the five finals he played and in general his entire game improved a lot. I would give him an ‘outstanding’ on the season.”


With a rollercoaster 2020 season in the books and a new award to adorn his trophy cabinet, Vicente made it clear that he refuses to rest on their laurels in the season to come. That same desire for continuous improvement that makes Rublev such a force on the Tour was evident as Vicente outlined his vision for 2021: to keep rising to new heights.

"We’ve been through very tough moments and now we’ve had a great year. The key is to keep working with passion and the work will bear fruit. So we have to keep going and not be satisfied, there is a lot to improve if we want to stay at this level!"

Fernando Vicente was selected as ATP Coach of the Year by fellow coaches from a shortlist that included Gilles Cervara (Daniil Medvedev), Juan Ignacio Chela (Diego Schwartzman), Nicolas Massu (Dominic Thiem), and Riccardo Piatti (Jannik Sinner).

“I don’t want to forget to give thanks to all the coaches and players who have voted for us. I know that there are many players and coaches who work equally hard or harder than us, but well, in this case Andrey had a year to remember! I wish them all the best in the upcoming season.

“I also don’t want to forget to give thanks to my wife and son for understanding what it means to be a professional tennis coach. It happens to all coaches, having to leave your wife and kids behind at home - they are the real champions! And to close, I want to thank and acknowledge all of the coaches that have been with Andrey from the start: Marina Marenko, Andrey’s mom, as well as the 4Slamtennis Academy: Galo Blanco, Abraham González, Marcos Pizzorno, Phillip Wessely and Marc Boada.” – Fernando Vicente

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fernand ... 20-feature

[DUN I LOVE]

Nie żyje Bobb Brett, były szkoleniowiec m. in. to search Borisa Beckera, Gorana Ivaniševicia, Andrieja Miedwiediewa, Mario Ančicia i Marina Čilicia.

Miał 67 lat.

[Damian]

Tenis. Zmarł Bob Brett. Jako trener doprowadził do wielkich sukcesów Borisa Beckera

Spoiler:

W wieku 67 lat zmarł po chorobie nowotworowej Bob Brett. Ceniony australijski szkoleniowiec był twórcą sukcesów m.in. Borisa Beckera, Gorana Ivanisevicia i Johana Krieka.
Rafał Smoliński
Rafał Smoliński
05 Stycznia 2021, 13:42
Bob Brett
Getty Images / Sarang Sena/The The India Today Group / Na zdjęciu: Bob Brett

Urodzony w 1953 roku Bob Brett należał do wiernych uczniów legendarnego Harry'ego Hopmana. Przez 46 lat swojego życia pracował zawodowo jako trener i miał ogromny wpływ na wielkie osiągnięcia swoich podopiecznych na światowych kortach.

Największe sukcesy święcił wspólnie z Borisem Beckerem. Trenerem Niemca był od listopada 1987 do lutego 1991 roku. Reprezentant naszych zachodnich sąsiadów wygrał wtedy 18 turniejów i wspiął się na pierwsze miejsce w rankingu ATP. Triumfował m.in. w Wimbledonie i US Open 1989 oraz Australian Open 1991.

Po zakończeniu współpracy z Beckerem kolejnym podopiecznym Bretta został Goran Ivanisević. Australijczyk znacznie poprawił repertuar uderzeń chorwackiego tenisisty, który wygrał dziewięć tytułów i dwukrotnie dotarł do finału Wimbledonu (1992, 1994). Współpraca zakończyła się w 1995 roku, a wdzięczny za wszystko Ivanisević zaprosił byłego szkoleniowca na finał Wimbledonu 2001, w którym pokonał Pata Raftera.

Brett miał także wielki wpływ na rozwój kariery innych graczy. Z powodzeniem pracował z Johanem Kriekiem, Andriejem Miedwiediewem, Nicolasem Kieferem oraz dostrzegł talent Marina Cilicia, któremu pomógł w czasach juniorskich. Australijczyk działał również przy wielu projektach. Był m.in. trenerem drużyny narodowej Japonii występującej w Pucharze Davisa.

Był bardzo ceniony w środowisku trenerskim. Przekazał swoją wiedzę wielu szkoleniowcom, m.in. Patrickowi Mouratoglou. "Jest mi ogromnie przykro z powodu śmierci Boba Bretta, z którym pracowałem przez sześć lat i który tak wiele nauczył mnie na początku mojej drogi trenerskiej. To był jeden z najlepszych szkoleniowców, jakiego spotkałem. Spoczywaj w pokoju" - napisał na Twitterze obecny opiekun Sereny Williams.

W ostatnim czasie u Bretta zdiagnozowano raka wątroby. Podstępna choroba nowotworowa zaatakowała także inne narządy. Wybitny trener zmarł w nocy z poniedziałku na wtorek w otoczeniu swoich bliskich. Jeszcze przed śmiercią otrzymał nagrodę im. Tima Gulliksona, którą ATP wyróżnia szkoleniowców będących inspiracją dla pokoleń zawodników i trenerów.

https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/tenis/91754 ... isa-becker

[Damian]

Koniec współpracy.

[Damian]

Bob Brett, Coach To Becker, Ivanisevic & Cilic, Dies Aged 67

Spoiler:

Australian was one of the world's leading coaches

Bob Brett, who adhered to Harry Hopman’s coaching philosophy in a 46-year career, passed away on Tuesday morning due to cancer aged 67. The Australian worked with Grand Slam champions such as Johan Kriek, Boris Becker, Goran Ivanisevic and Marin Cilic, as well as many national associations, and was a friendly mentor to hundreds of coaches globally. In November 2020, he was unanimously selected by his peers as the recipient of the Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award.

Brett, who focused on patience, a strong work ethic and commitment to the player, was immersed in top-level tennis from an early age and became a devotee of Hopman, the legendary Australian coach, who was a mentor until his death in 1985. Brett, always thoughtful and softly spoken, was an emotionless presence from his courtside seat. The Melbourne-born coach taught his players about life, as well as how to hit a forehand, and maintained positive relationships with each of his charges well after their partnerships ended. Renowned for his lengthy counting drills, which restarted when a player made a mistake, Brett opened an academy, which bears his name, in San Remo, Italy in 2002.

Asked about his coaching style by ATPTour.com in 2008, Brett admitted, “I benefitted from my exposure to Hopman. I didn’t copy him, but a lot rubbed off on me. Work and repetition is the key in a player-coach partnership. A player must be mentally tough, with the ability to execute under pressure. It’s always a battle of their character against the other player’s character. You can guide then, provide them with examples and talk about history, but in the end you need to bring out the qualities a player has. Also, you must have an all-seeing eye for detail.”

In 1965, when attending the Victorian and Australian Championships, which were both held at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne, Brett watched courtside and tried to get Hopman’s autograph. A gentleman he was sat beside asked if he wanted to meet George MacCall, who was in his first year as Davis Cup captain of the United States. Brett leapt at the chance and the next day went to meet MacCall and immediately became a ball boy to Arthur Ashe, Cliff Richey, Clark Graebner, Herb Fitzgibbon and Jim McManus during their training sessions.

“After some time, Arthur asked if I’d like to hit some balls,” Brett told ATPTour.com. “It lasted only for a few minutes before Mr Hopman came out of the clubhouse to stop it. He told Arthur off, confirming I wasn’t a member and it was unfair on other boys. The next year, I asked Mr Hopman if I could pick up balls for the Australian Davis Cup team, which he agreed.”



While Brett’s own playing career was short-lived, by 1971, upon the insistence of his father, he took two jobs: one as a postman from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., then another from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. But at the age of 20 in 1974, Brett wrote a letter to Hopman, who was working at the Port Washington Tennis Academy, located on Long Island, New York. “Hopman told me to come along whenever, but he didn’t tell me about the paperwork involved in getting a visa,” remembered Brett. “I got in on a tourist visa and worked alongside Mr Hopman for $200 per week, which I calculated to be $6.25 per one-hour lesson. He told me to watch Tony Palafox, who would be John McEnroe’s long-time coach, a young McEnroe himself, Vitas Gerulaitis, Peter Rennert, Mary Carillo and Peter Fleming.”

The Australian listened intently and watched Hopman’s every move, his technique and the two-on-one drills that sharpened a pupil’s speed, reflexes and movement. He also watched on as Hopman would feed once and if a player made a mistake, he would feed a ball to the same spot again to see if a player made a technical adjustment. Only then would Hopman, a captain-coach to 22 Australian Davis Cup winning teams between 1939 and 1967, speak to the player. “Having a conversation with him was always illuminating,” said Brett. “I initially sorted out buckets of balls for Mr Hopman, removing the dud balls, but I soon learnt that every player needs something different.”

You May Also Like: Bob Brett Honoured With 2020 Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award
In December 1978, upon the recommendation of Hopman, Brett took charge of the first Rossignol team: Andres Gomez, Ricardo Ycaza and Raul Antonio Viver, on a six-month trial. “Gomez was around No. 240 [in the FedEx ATP Rankings at the time] and in the next six months he got to No. 68,” said Brett, who also worked at Hopman’s academy in Saddlebrook, Florida. “Rossignol then asked me to build a full team and after consulting Hopman, who recommended six players only, I worked with Johan Kriek, who won the 1981 Australian Open, Fritz Buehning, Gomez, Tim Mayotte, Tim Wilkison, Viver, Jose-Luis Clerc and later Mats Wilander, Guy Forget and Henrik Sundstrom. No one wanted to train with each other in the first year, but when Mayotte came on board, he didn’t mind who he trained with and that changed the dynamic. Peugeot sponsored the group and gave a car to the player with the most match wins at the end of each season. So that, naturally, helped them play against each other more and more.”

Brett, who also worked with Harold Solomon, John Lloyd, Peter McNamara, Paul McNamee and former WTA No. 1 Chris Evert, found his star rising and when Gunter Bosch resigned as Becker’s coach after the 1987 Australian Open, a new opportunity arose at the age of 34.

Becker, explained in his 2004 autobiography, The Player, “When Bosch left I had to find a new coach, but Tiriac was against my choice, the Australian Bob Brett. ‘Him? What’s he got that you could possibly need? He’s never been in a Wimbledon final! How could you have any respect for him? But Brett was tough – exactly what I needed. He made it very clear what he expected from me: willingness, discipline, willpower, punctuality. Three hours’ training in the morning, three hours in the afternoon. ‘What you do afterwards doesn’t interest me.’ It was a pure business relationship. Brett treated me like a grown-up.”

Brett enjoyed his greatest success as Becker’s full-time coach from November 1987 until February 1991, shortly after the German won the Australian Open and became World No. 1 on 28 January 1991. Becker immediately bought into Brett’s work ethic and [the Aussie] readjusted the German’s service grip early on. “We played golf and chess and Boris was inquisitive,” said Brett in 2008. “He was very good at being able to execute what I told him. His understanding of opponents was very good too and I encouraged him to work hard, but also the value of recovery.”

They won the first of 18 tour-level titles together at the 1988 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (d. Emilio Sanchez) and Becker enjoyed the best season of his career in 1989, when he captured the Wimbledon (d. Edberg) and US Open (d. Lendl) crowns, and developed his powerful game on multiple surfaces. Brett, who woke at 5 a.m. each day and went for a run, was a completely different personality to Becker, but the pair fitted together to reach 26 tour-level finals (18-8 record) during their three-and-a-half-year association.

Brett was soon hired by Goran Ivanisevic’s father, Srdjan, in 1991 and fine-tuned the Croatian’s groundstrokes and volleying. “Goran was a superb athlete, he loved his country and wore his heart on his sleeve,” Brett told ATPTour.com. “He didn’t say a word in our first meeting, which I thought was odd, when I was trying to ascertain what Goran wanted to achieve. I didn’t touch his serve, but wanted to channel his energy in a positive way” In a four-year partnership, which ended at the end of the 1995 season, Ivanisevic won nine titles from 17 tour-level finals, with runner-up finishes at Wimbledon in 1992 (l. to Agassi) and 1994 (l. to Sampras). Ivanisevic got Brett a Centre Court ticket in July 2001 when the Croatian won Wimbledon with a five-set victory over Patrick Rafter in the final.


Brett then coached Andrei Medvedev to the 1999 Roland Garros final, took Nicolas Kiefer from outside of the Top 50 to World No. 4 and assisted Mario Ancic, with the Croatian’s parents driving 20 hours one-way from Split to San Remo for an initial three-day visit. In the summer of 2004, Ivanisevic bought a promising 6’3” 15-year-old to San Remo. Brett’s nine-year partnership with Marin Cilic, saw the Croatian develop technically and powerfully en route to the 2005 junior Roland Garros title and World No. 9 as a pro. When Cilic captured the 2014 US Open crown, Brett was one of the first people the Croatian called when he returned home.

The Australian coach also spent up to 20 weeks of the year working in Japan. He was supervisor of the Japanese Davis Cup team from 2003 to 2006 and coach at the ‘Shuzo Challenge Top Junior Camp’ from 2000, where most of the top male players in Japan were coached by him and Shuzo Matsuoka. Until recently, he continued with the camps and the male national junior team. He was a high-performance consultant for Tennis Canada between 2006 and 2008, and Brett played a large part in remodelling training camps and performance programmes as Director of Player Development for the British Lawn Tennis Association in 2014 and 2015. He was also the first principal of the Bob Brett/now Patrick Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Montreuil, an eastern suburb of Paris from 1996 to 2002, and last year established the Kent Yamazaki & Bob Brett Tennis Foundation that supports financially and socially disadvantaged youth in Australia.

Brett, the recipient of the Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award in the 2020 ATP Awards, passed away at 2:15am in a Paris hospital on Tuesday, with his two daughters, Katarina and Caroline, by his bedside. He had been diagnosed with liver cancer last year, but was recovering and exercising regularly.

Bob Brett, tennis coach, born 13 November 1953, died 5 January 2021.

More stories like this in:

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/bob-brett-obituary-2021

[Barty]

Tenis. Mają za sobą zawieszenia za doping, znów będą współpracować. Guillermo Canas pomoże Nicolasowi Jarry'emu

Spoiler:

Nicolas Jarry, który stracił zeszły sezon z powodu dyskwalifikacji za doping, będzie współpracował z nowym trenerem, Guillermo Canasem. Co ciekawe, Argentyńczyk także ma za sobą zawieszenie za stosowanie niedozwolonych substancji.
Marcin Motyka
Marcin Motyka
07 Stycznia 2021, 08:10

Nicolas Jarry
Getty Images / Buda Mendes / Na zdjęciu: Nicolas Jarry


Tenis. Zakażony koronawirusem Sam Querrey uciekł z Petersburga. Teraz przedstawił swoją wersję wydarzeń
Nicolas Jarry przystąpił do sezonu 2020 z dużymi oczekiwaniami. Jednak w połowie stycznia musiał przerwać występy. Międzynarodowa Federacja Tenisa (ITF) poinformowała, że w jego organizmie wykryto niedozwolone substancje - ligandrol i stanozolol. Został zawieszony na 11 miesięcy, przez co do gry wrócił dopiero pod koniec listopada.
W 2021 roku Jarry chce się obudować. Jak poinformował dziennik "El Mercurio", będzie także współpracował z nowym trenerem. Rozstał się z Dante Bottinim, który został szkoleniowcem Grigora Dimitrowa, a radami ma mu służyć Guillermo Canas.

Jarry i Canas bardzo dobrze się znają. W latach 2014-17 chilijski tenisista był adeptem należącej do Argentyńczyka Canas Tennis Academy w Miami na Florydzie.

ZOBACZ WIDEO: #dziejesiewsporcie: Rajskie wakacje Celii i Grzegorza Krychowiaków

Canas to były zawodowy tenisista. Wygrał siedem turniejów głównego cyklu, w tym imprezę ATP Masters w Miami, a w rankingu ATP najwyżej zajmował ósme miejsce. W 2005 roku jego kariera na dwa lata została zatrzymana z powodu dyskwalifikacji za stosowanie środków dopingujących. Jako trener współpracował m.in. z Michaiłem Kukuszkinem, Tejmurazem Gabaszwilim i Wierą Zwonariową.

25-letni Jarry, w lipcu 2019 roku 38. zawodnik świata, obecnie jest nieklasyfikowany w rankingu ATP. W karierze zdobył jeden tytuł rangi ATP Tour - przed dwoma sezonami w Bastad.

https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/tenis/91779 ... ermo-canas

[Barty]

Koniec współpracy.

Niereformowalny jest ten Kmiotek. Pewnie za duży reżim narzucony, po co się przemęczać.

I takim ludziom my musimy ufać, blehhh.

[Damian]

[Barty]

To Moya też pozytywny?

[Damian]

To Moya też pozytywny?

Chyba nie, przyczyną rodzinne sprawy.

[Damian]

Gael Monfils ma nowego trenera. Współpracował z Dominikiem Thiemem i Jerzym Janowiczem

Spoiler:

Gael Monfils postawił na zmiany i zdecydował się na nowo skompletować sztab. Głównym trenerem Francuza został Günter Bresnik, który współpracował m.in. z Dominikiem Thiemem czy Jerzym Janowiczem.
Rafał Smoliński
Rafał Smoliński
24 Stycznia 2021, 00:08

Gael Monfils
PAP/EPA / VALERIE BLUM / Na zdjęciu: Gael Monfils



Tenis. Australian Open: "bańka" i izolacja nie wpływają na Dominika Thiema. Austriak zwrócił uwagę na inny aspekt
Klasyfikowany obecnie na 11. pozycji w rankingu ATP Gael Monfils współpracował w ostatnich latach z Liamem Smithem. Po zakończeniu sezonu 2020 uznał jednak, że nadszedł czas na zmiany. Jak dowiedział się portal tennisnet.com, Francuz trenował w listopadzie pod okiem Güntera Bresnika. Doświadczony Austriak został głównym szkoleniowcem 34-latka.
Bresnik szkolił m.in. Jerzego Janowicza i Ernestsa Gulbisa, ale najbardziej znany jest ze swojej współpracy z Dominikiem Thiemem. Pod jego okiem Austriak zadomowił się w Top 10 i osiągnął finał Rolanda Garrosa. Dwa lata temu Thiem związał się z Nicolasem Massu, z którym triumfował w Indian Wells 2019 i US Open 2020, a były trener wytoczył mu proces.

Teraz Bresnik poprowadzi Monfilsa. Na razie odbył z nim serię treningów. Do Melbourne reprezentant Trójkolorowych poleciał w towarzystwie Richarda Ruckelshausena. Były austriacki tenisista został namaszczony przez Bresnika jako opiekun Francuza podczas jego występów na Antypodach.

Po przejściu obowiązkowej dwutygodniowej kwarantanny Monfils weźmie udział w drugiej edycji ATP Cup (1-5 lutego) oraz w wielkoszlemowym Australian Open 2021 (8-21 lutego). Przeciwnikami Francji w fazie grupowej tej pierwszej imprezy będą Austriacy i Włosi.

https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/tenis/92047 ... rzym-janow

[Damian]

Bottini On Dimitrov: 'The Things He Can Do Are Unbelievable'

Spoiler:

Dimitrov's new coach speaks exclusively to ATPTour.com
Grigor Dimitrov has long enjoyed success at the Australian Open, where he is into the quarter-finals for the fourth time. The 2017 semi-finalist will try to return to the last four again when he faces Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev on Tuesday.

The Bulgarian recently started working with a new coach, Dante Bottini, the former longtime mentor of Kei Nishikori. ATPTour.com caught up with Bottini about their quick start, what it has been like getting to know Dimitrov and how he coached the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion from hard quarantine.

Grigor said he called you late last year when he heard you were free and he got the sense that you hit it off right away, and not just on the court. Did you realise that, too?
I saw that right away. He called me in November and said he wanted to meet with me. I spent three full days with him in Monaco. We talked a lot about life, about tennis, about how I see tennis and his tennis. We hit it off really, really well from the beginning. He was happy and then he called after a few days and said he would like to start training with me. That was a good meeting.

Because you’ve been on Tour for so long and Kei played Grigor so many times, did you have an idea right away of what you wanted to do with Grigor’s game?
For sure. Kei played so many times against him and we practised also during all these years. They played doubles together, so I knew very well how Grigor plays. I never saw him in detail in practice that much. I knew his potential, but to tell you the truth he surprised me that it’s even better. He’s unbelievably talented. The things that he can do on the court are unbelievable. I have in mind things I want him to get better with and things I want to work with him on. We’ve shared information with each other and we’ve been doing well so far.


When you speak about how talented Grigor is, what’s something you see from him in practice that shows that?
He makes things that are difficult very easy. It is the shots that he makes and how easy he can process when he does something wrong and how easily he can fix it. I’m not saying it’s just the amazing shots he hits, but how easy he processes the mistakes that he makes to get better. If I ask him to do something, he does it right away instead of practising it for a few days or even weeks before he gets it.

You spent many years working with Kei. How different does it feel coaching a different player?
Every player is different. I worked with Kei for so long that you get used to the player a little bit. But I’ve also trained so many other people in my life and I know that everybody is different. You have to adjust. That’s the way that I coach. It’s not my way or the highway. I always try to see the player I have in front of me and you adjust your work and how the person is. So far it’s been working really well.

Grigor is 29 and you might think as he gets older it would be harder to make changes. But how do you think he is able to pick up changes quickly?
When you get older, it’s tougher to accept that, too. But everybody, including the top players, go through changes. Tennis is changing. It’s an evolution. So you have to adapt and change a few things. I’m not saying that he’s changing drastically, but just a few things and obviously he’s willing to do that.

Is there anything you’d be willing to share that you believe Grigor can improve?
I think the most important [element] for Grigor is to stay mentally focused and to stay in the point longer. He needs to trust his physical conditioning — which is great — his speed, his ability to move. We all know that he has all the shots. For me, it’s very important for him to stay calm and realise that he has all the weapons to play. He doesn’t need to rush.

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One of the things that Grigor takes pride in is his kindness and simply being a good person. How nice is that for you?
Super nice. I knew that he was a nice person, but I never knew him deeply like I have in these few months. He’s a super nice person, he cares about others and I like that about him. I think we both are pretty much the same in that sense. We get along good, we get along very well. He likes to talk a lot, he likes to ask the questions probably more than me. We’ve been having nice conversations… going for walks and talking about not only tennis, but about life. I think that’s important for him, it’s important for me, too.

You flew to Melbourne from Los Angeles and were mandated to do hard quarantine, but Grigor was on a different flight and was able to train. How tough was it to try to help Grigor while you were in the hotel?
I was in contact with him every day and I was telling him things that I wanted him to do and to practise and to keep going with the preseason we did in Monaco. I was talking to him and he was giving me his feedback and I was telling him whatever I could. I also was in contact with David Goffin’s coach, who was running the practices. I was telling him things I would like to do in practice and he helped me out, feeding Grigor some balls. I have to thank Germain Gigounon, Goffin’s coach, for that.

Did they take any videos for you to see what was going on?
Yes, I was asking Grigor to send me some videos from practice. They were not too long, but at least I could see him!

Sometimes it takes time for a player and coach to get used to working with each other. But right away Grigor is into a Grand Slam quarter-final. How do you, as a coach, decide how much advice you give him in such a big moment?
I’m the same as the first tournament that we played here and the first few rounds of the Australian Open. I’m not changing anything because it’s the quarter-finals or Round of 16 or first round. I don’t care. We just have to keep doing the same things we’ve been doing, same routine, keep playing the same way and then go day by day, match by match. I’m keeping things simple and exactly the same as we have been doing.

Dimitrov

Grigor will be the favourite in the quarter-finals against Aslan Karatsev, who is competing in his first Grand Slam main draw. How do you keep Grigor focused on the task at hand, rather than thinking about how his opponent hasn’t been in this situation and is No. 114?
It’s the same, Grigor knows if the guy is in the quarter-finals it’s for a reason. Obviously the guy is playing very good tennis, he’s very dangerous. Grigor has to focus on his game. We just practise, work on some shots I think will be good for Grigor in the match and that’s it. It doesn’t matter who is in front of him. He just has to focus on his game.

Did you guys speak about goals moving forward?
Of course. Not really specific things. We didn’t set a specific goal before this season, I want to actually talk about that more deeply after this tournament. But of course we spoke a little bit about how I see him playing and where I think he belongs. He wanted to hear that from me, too. I’m very ambitious in that sense and he is too, he’s very eager. Hopefully we can reach the max.

If you want to see Grigor do one thing the rest of the tournament, what would it be?
Keep the same consistency and the same mentality he has been having. He has been very composed, very positive the whole tournament and he has been very relaxed mentally. That’s what I’m expecting from him and I would like to see.

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