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Coaches' Corner Q&A with Hurkacz's coach
Hubert Hurkacz will face the toughest test in tennis on Thursday when he plays World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the third round of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

The pair's first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash came in last year's Miami Open presented by Itau semi-finals, won by Alcaraz 7-6(5), 7-6(2). This will be their first matchup since.

Ahead of the match, ATPTour.com spoke to Hurkacz's coach, Craig Boynton, about how differently he gameplans for the very best players in the world, what makes Alcaraz unique and more.

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Obviously you prepare for every match. But how is it different when it is to compete against Alcaraz or someone at that level?
There are a few people. Take Novak for example — Hubi's played him six or seven times, and however many times he's played him, he hasn't beaten him. So with someone like that, you have to sit down and go, 'Okay, look, we need to change something.'

You've got to get out of your comfort zone in some way to make an impact. He's been close in a few of them, he just hasn't been able to get over the line. And listen, Novak's probably the greatest player to ever play. So there are people that you play, that you sit down [and say] these are [the] non-negotiables... The serve is back and you're in a neutral [rally] — This is the play, this is what you want to key in on, and you want to put the ball in this part of the court with X amount of speed and spin to get the desired ball that you want in order to be in total control of the point.

And if the player cannot neutralise Hubi's weapons, then it's more about just keeping your emotional control. And then, the longer the match goes, the more it favours Hubi, because he has the weapons that can't be neutralised. But at this rarefied air, these guys neutralise just about everything. So you need to be one step ahead.

How different is that compared to a typical match in which you're playing someone at Hubi's ranking compared to those in that rarefied air?
At Hubi's ranking right now, we have the luxury of having played most everybody. So we have a history, which is really invaluable. If you don't have the history, then it's really gathering all the information and trying to put Hubi in the best spot.

Now Hubi has a ridiculously great serve. And when that's rolling, he's going to hold against just about everybody. I know in game-planning against big servers, when you're on the return, you're just waiting for that one game where things don't go your way on the first serve. So then it's really about the tactics, because then it's 50-50 and that's when that's when you've got to be, really on point with really what you're trying to accomplish.

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You were talking about this sort of rarefied air, it's a very select group of players. From what you can say, what's different about Alcaraz compared to the likes of Djokovic and Nadal?
His skillset is [that] his average pace of ball is quite a bit higher than everyone's and there's a lot of great movement on the court. Not only is he a great mover, he just can see the play. His vision of the play is really incredible. I would joke that sometimes he knows where you're going to hit the ball before you know where you're going to hit the ball.

And then there's really no weakness per se. There's not something that breaks down. He competes really, really well. To be in the Top 20, you've got to be freakish at something and he seems to be freakish at everything.

What do you remember from Hubi's match against Alcaraz in Miami that stands out?
Hubi was up in both tie-breaks and very easily could have won 6 and 6. So I don't know if many people remember that.

Carlos is better and Hubi's better. Carlos has developed different gears and he's developed better tools and more precise tools, and he has a better understanding of his game. Hubi has a way of being able to kind of neutralise some of these big hitters with his athleticism and his speed. But again, you don't want to have to do that time and time again, because the great ones will be able to adapt and adjust just as Hubi's trying to adapt and adjust.

Carlos is on TV every match he plays. Do you have to sit and go through tape? Are you looking at the Miami match? How do you approach it?
I like to look at head-to-head. I also like to look at what they've been doing recently and then I'll take someone that maybe has beaten who I'm looking at and watch that and see what they did and see if they have comparable weapons that Hubi has.

I like to watch tape and see why somebody wins. And I also like to see what happens when they lost. A lot of pro tennis is matchups on the day. So some of the times the rhythms were off or whatever, they had in their personal life, something didn't go well or something like that. So I like to take about 20 minutes and just go, 'He's really good when this happens and we want to get you in this position'.

So it's not you're not sitting there on watching the film for three hours or something like that?
No, I'm not I because I want to keep it simple. Most of how I coach and how I coach Hubi is we go on the court and when the ball comes here, this is how you want to hit it. When the ball comes here, here are your options. And let him play prepared. I like to let my players play prepared, and obviously the better he's serving and the more free points he has, that can free him up in other areas.

Fritz to play Djokovic Tuesday in the quarter-finals
The world saw firsthand the heartbreak Taylor Fritz experienced at last year’s US Open. The American No. 1 allowed Netflix’s cameras inside his circle throughout the process of his surprising defeat to World No. 303 Brandon Holt in the first round for the filming of Break Point.

Fritz’s coach, Michael Russell, helped explain what led to the upset and how Team Fritz has learned from the experience.

“There were a lot of different dynamics at play. I think Taylor was here too long prior to the tournament. Seven days of preparation sometimes can create a little bit of burnout leading up to it,” Russell told ATPTour.com. “And then he just put way too much expectation and pressure on himself. You're always going to have that pressure as the No. 1 American coming into your home Slam, but he really felt like, basically, he should win the tournament coming in.

“You want to have that confidence and that belief, but at the same time, there are 128 guys. They have to win seven matches in order to win a tournament, and there are a lot of exceptional players in that field. So combine that with the fact that you're playing a fellow American that you grew up with, who knows your game so well, all those pressures, and he just didn't manage it as well as he could have."

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Russell clearly credited Holt, saying the Californian “played an exceptional match”. The former No. 60 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings tried to take positives from the experience and adapted Fritz’s preparation for this year’s US Open.

“This year, we arrived Tuesday evening, Taylor was able to go back to Miami, where he has a place, for four days, which just really helps mentally and emotionally get ready and just a little bit of a break after a four-week stretch of playing the US Open Series of hard-court tournaments,” Russell said. “Then we actually increased the volume in the three days of practice here to imitate a little more of that three-out-of-five-set match play. And then we shut it down Saturday before the tournament started.”

Fritz’s “extracurricular commitments” — media, for example — have been minimal and the full focus has been on his tennis.

“Not to say that he's not doing any of those,” Russell said. “But it's managed much better from a time perspective and I think that's really helped him physically, mentally, and emotionally deal with the pressure that's always going to be there.”



This year, Fritz went from an early New York exit to a dominant first-week performance. The home favourite lost a combined 13 games in his first three matches against Steve Johnson, Juan Pablo Varillas and Jakub Mensik, before also dismissing Dominic Stricker in straight sets.

“You're always going to be nervous, it's normal. It's part of sport. When you walk into competition, there's always that unpredictability of what's going to happen, but at the same time, it's having the confidence, it's having the belief in yourself. And then also, the preparation creates that confidence,” Russell said. “This year, the preparation was better. Of course, we have a lot of talks about staying relaxed, about staying confident. It's very cliche, but controlling the controllables.

“You can't worry about what other things are happening with other players, what the points are, what the money is. Literally just focussing on the ball, focussing on the court. It's the same ball, it's the same court for everyone. The lines are the same dimensions everywhere you go.”

Fritz will try to keep that in mind when he steps onto the court inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday for his quarter-final against 23-time major winner Novak Djokovic. The Serbian leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head 7-0.

“You can only control what you can do. So if your opponent is going for records or your opponent's won this many tournaments and this many Slams, that's great, that's exceptional, and that's for him,” Russell said. “But at the end of the day, tomorrow, when you guys both wake up, you're walking out on that same court, and you're trying to win the last point. So I think it's 'What can I do to win that last point? How do I make my opponent as uncomfortable as possible? How do I create that adversity?'

“For Taylor, that's what the game plan is and what can he do game plan wise that can make Novak uncomfortable?”

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The 2022 Nitto ATP Finals semi-finalist accomplished that against Djokovic in Turin last year. The eventual champion won in two tie-breaks, but Fritz served for the second set.

“That was some of the best tennis I've seen Taylor play and Novak was flustered,” Russell said. “I think if Taylor would have won that second set, it would have been a very interesting third set because that was some of the best tennis I've seen.”

Regardless of past results, Russell wants his charge to “play free” and “play relaxed” as he tries to make the US Open semi-finals for the first time.

“Enjoy it, get the crowd involved. The American crowd playing in the US Open, Ashe Stadium. No. 1 American against arguably the greatest player of all time,” Russell said. “I want you to enjoy the experience and look like you're enjoying the experience. Go out and show a lot of positive emotion, a lot of spring in your step and just, take it all in and have fun.”

ATPTour.com speaks to the French coach ahead of the US Open semis
Gilles Cervara is well aware of the challenge his player, Daniil Medvedev, will face Friday when he plays defending champion and top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. According to the Frenchman, players need to find a level beyond their best to compete with the likes of the Spaniard.

“To beat the best you have to play probably over your level, you have to find something different. You have to be in almost the best day of your year, and you have to create the conditions for this,” Cervara told ATPTour.com. “I think and I really believe as a person and as a coach that you have to find something deeper inside yourself, to be someone stronger and stronger.

“If I use an example, you probably know Dragon Ball Z. Superhero. You have to find this power inside yourself to be like a superhero, to be over the best you can do. That's what I think. And sports in general, I've always seen this all over the years. The No. 1 is almost unbeatable but someone is able to play over his best this day to beat him. And I think tomorrow is the day like this.”

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In other words, a player needs to go into Super Saiyan mode. Medvedev will try to do just that as he tries to level his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Alcaraz at 2-2.

“I really believe that it's really possible if you find this energy, this mentality, this fire,” Cervara said. “Of course in your game, your game becomes stronger and stronger and then your opponent looks not to be at his best this day also because you are over this.

“Daniil is one of the players able to do it.”

According to Cervara, Medvedev does not necessarily need to prepare differently for a challenge like playing Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic. It just requires a different level of focus.

“It's just your margin of error or the margin of the good or the bad choices are getting like this,” Cervara said, pinching his fingers together. “You can always find something against lower players. Against the [best players]... your margin is very, very thin.”

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Medvedev defeated close friend Andrey Rublev in straight sets in the quarter-finals, but made use of his margin for error earlier in the tournament, when he lost a set to Christopher O’Connell and Alex de Minaur. For the fourth time in the past five years, the 2021 champion is into the US Open semi-finals.

“It's great to be there. First of all, in general, it's very good to be there anywhere, and especially when you didn't win so many matches. For guys like Daniil, every time you play a tournament, especially [ATP] Masters 1000s, you want to go to the final or to win the tournament for sure,” Cervara said. “And when you lose before those guys, maybe not all of them, but a guy like Daniil, then it becomes very, very tough every day. So everything can be difficult and you have to manage this every day.

“So it's a lot of pressure, a lot of tension. And even if, from my perspective, as a coach, I always try to give the good side of what happened."



Cervara felt that even in Medvedev’s quarter-final loss in Toronto (to Alex de Minaur) and third-round defeat in Cincinnati (to Alexander Zverev), there were plenty of positives from which the World No. 3 could be confident.

“But inside the player, he just sees that he doesn't win, so it's s***. And then you have to manage this negative feeling even if you feel that it's not that bad. And you can feel the good things. So it makes the work very, very tough,” Cervara said. “When finally at the end during the major he plays good, you feel much better and you feel that yeah, my point of view was the good one, it was the right one.”

On Thursday morning Cervara went for a boxing session, an activity he enjoys throughout the world. The Frenchman felt his performance was not good enough and the coach told him he was being too hard on himself.

“I was laughing in my mind, because I was like, 'Yeah, I know exactly how Daniil feels in that moment', and I was like, ‘Yes’,” Cervara said. “But also, this dissatisfaction is also the engine to do better and better. But at the same time it puts you always in tension and frustration.”

So what flip did Medvedev switch at Flushing Meadows to raise his level and battle into the last four at the season’s final major, finding the form that helped him win five titles earlier in 2023?

“It's tough to talk about this now because tomorrow we play a semi-final, so the tournament still is going on and I want to focus on the next step,” Cervara said. “And it's a huge, huge step.”

Coach speaks exclusively to ATPTour.com after US Open semis
Gilles Cervara opened a bite-sized chocolate during the US Open semi-final between his charge, Daniil Medvedev, and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. The inside of the candy wrapper read “Today is your day".

That proved prophetic as 2021 titlist Medvedev ousted the top seed in four sets to reach his third US Open final.

“There is the first step in the beginning of the match, like two years ago against Novak [Djokovic] in the final. I was wondering straight away if he could resist Carlos,” Cervara told ATPTour.com after Medvedev’s win. “Straightaway I felt that it was that kind of day, that kind of match where you could do it. I've seen all the first set, the tie-break, then the second set.

“After I was a bit worried in the third set, when Carlos played amazing. He had amazing moments. But in the first part of the match, I thought that was one of these days where he could do it.”

Medvedev explained after his victory that he felt he had reached a 12 out of 10 with his performance against the Spaniard. “To beat him, you need to be better than yourself and I managed to do it," he said. Cervara agreed.

“I respect players. They are thinking a lot with the strategy, they have to do it,” Cervara said. “But me as a person and as a coach, and also as a sportsman, I really believe that you have to find something more inside yourself to make your game and your strategy efficient. So, of course, I had to talk [to Daniil] about this invisible part.”

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One of the talking points among fans and experts leading into the match was what Medvedev would do to reverse what happened in the pair’s two Lexus ATP Head2Head matches earlier this season. In those clashes, Alcaraz won all five sets without losing more than three games in any of them.

Medvedev has become known for his ultra-deep return position. Would the World No. 3 change that strategy?

He did not and although Alcaraz took advantage by winning 54 of his 70 net points in the match (77%), Medvedev maintained a high level throughout to triumph.

“First of all, I want to say that he's able to change his return position. But he would do it if he really feels that he cannot win like this,” Cervara said. “That's the main thing. And so, it's tough to be in people's brains or to understand what they feel. And I think that people don't understand what he feels, what he sees, what he believes.

“That is even if from our perspective it looks crazy to be where he is standing. For him, he has a totally different perspective, different vision of the court, of his movement. That's all.”

Cervara remembers a specific moment during his first year as Medvedev’s coach. The Frenchman created an exercise to work on his player’s return in order to make his position lower and closer to the baseline.

“He said to me one thing. ‘But if I do this, I don't feel that I can push,’” Cervara recalled. “And when he said this, I was like, ‘Okay, I understand that.’ I have to take care of his feeling. Because if I don't do it, I'm going to destroy him.”

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It was important for Medvedev to feel he had the ability to push with his legs into the return.

“And then also because he feels that like this, he can put the ball back. Running after his return is important for him to build his game also,” Cervara said. “So yeah, it's a mental and neuronal configuration in the brain. It's working.”

As thrilling as Medvedev’s performance against Alcaraz was, he is not holding the trophy yet. He needs to beat 23-time major winner Novak Djokovic in the final to earn it. Two years ago, Medvedev halted the Serbian's pursuit of history in the US Open final. Djokovic was trying to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four majors in the same year.

What does Cervara remember most from that championship clash?

“I think right now the first thing is probably the last game, how tough the last game was for me. And the moment he won the title,” Cervara said.

The Frenchman explained that the challenges of facing Alcaraz and Djokovic are different.

“They are different people, different players. So everything will be different,” Cervara said. “We are going to talk about this of course.”

Djokovic leads Medvedev 9-5 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head, but Medvedev won their most recent clash in this year’s Dubai semi-finals. That remains the Serbian’s lone hard-court loss of the season (26-1).

“I think we are going to talk about many matches for sure because we have to be ready for different things,” Cervara said. “In two days it's going to be again a tough one, and such an important one.”

Pair worked together for seven years
After seven years together, Diego Schwartzman and coach Juan Ignacio Chela are going their separate ways. The 31-year-old Schwartzman has spent the majority of his professional career with Chela, a fellow Argentine, and reached a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 8 in 2020 under his guidance.

Chela, a former Top 20 player himself, announced the split in a heartfelt Instagram post on Friday.

"One day the phone rang and without knowing it, it was the beginning of a new stage in my life as a coach," he wrote in Spanish.

"Today, after seven years, the time has come for each of us to go our own way. I just want to say thank you and wish you the best in everything to come. I will continue watching you and cheering you on in every match."


Schwartzman replied to Chela's post with an equally emotional comment: "I love you Juanito! And this is a word that those who know me know that it is hard for me to say, but what these years were like..." he wrote, also in Spanish.

"Many coaches formed me when I was a kid and I met incredible people. But the conviction that you generated in me inside and outside the court was unique. Every moment, every laugh, every match, every training session. We always had a good time... good? AMAZING."