Eye of the Coach #70: “Allowing off-court coaching has not changed anything”
In the latest edition of Eye of the Coach, Patrick Mouratoglou assesses the impact of allowing off-court coaching in the second half of 2022
From mid-July until the end of the season, the ATP allowed off-court coaching as a test. Coaches were allowed to talk to their players and gesture at them, something some had been doing before but unofficially and often in hiding, sometimes resulting in warnings from the chair umpire.
This authorisation has been the subject of much discussion, with some in favour of off-court coaching, such as the coach of world number seven Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, and others against, such as Nick Kyrgios, who said in a tweet last July that “the beauty of tennis is to be alone on the court”.
In the latest episode of the Eye of the coach, Patrick Mouratoglou explains that the authorisation of off-court coaching has not changed anything on the circuit for the moment, with coaches still hiding to coach due to lack of practice, which is detrimental to the show. According to Simona Halep’s and Holger Rune’s coach, the coaches deserve to be better promoted.
KEY MOMENTS IN EYE OF THE COACH #70:
- 0.20: Coaches don’t really coach during matches, and it’s a pity because it would bring more spectacle. .
- 0.35: The point of coaching is that this interaction between a coach and a player is interesting for the fans.
- 1.00: “The way we are allowed to coach now on the circuit is not good” says Mouratoglou.
- 1.28: The French coach regrets that what the WTA had put in place before no longer exists, with coaches allowed to come to the bench once per set to talk to their player.
- 1.55: Such interaction gave more credit to the coaches, who are usually in the background.
- 2.12: Ideally, coaches should be on the bench for the whole match, like in Davis Cup or Fed Cup.
