On Court Coaching: What the Players Say

A recent article quoted a few players regarding the two upcoming WTA tournaments that will allow limited on-court coaching. Here's how it works:

The tour will allow players to call a coach on to the court once each set during changeovers and between sets.

Players will also be allowed to call coaches on court if their opponent takes a medical timeout, bathroom break or walks off court to change her clothes. MSNBC

And what do the players think?

Kim Clijsters:

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this but it’s a rule I’m absolutely against. Part of being a tennis player is being able to solve things yourself.”

Kim, you're allowed to say whatever you want!

Nadia Petrova:

“I think it will add more personality to the game, having the coaches more visible to the fans and to the media.”

Elena Dementieva:

“I think it will be interesting to see the coaches come down and see what they say, but I don’t think I will have my mother come. I’m already with her 24/7 and it’s the only time I get a break from her.”

I bet Martina Hingis would think similarly in this situation.

Serena Williams:

“I think it takes away from tennis. When I’m out there, I’ve done all the hard work. It takes away from the integrity of the sport.

I personally agree with Serena so far - but I'll be interested to see how it goes. I'm not opposed to trying it out.

Maria Sharapova:

"It will be funny when you see an opponent calling for a coach because you’ll just want to laugh, they’ll be in trouble. I usually play on instinct and don’t like to be told what to do, so calling for someone will be very rare.”

Since Yuri already coaches from the stands, I don't expect this to be a change for her and would be surprised if Maria used it.

Daniela Hantuchova:

“The cheating is out of control. I’ve gone up to umpires during matches and said, how come you can’t hear this when I can. There are signals and words instructing the players. I’ve complained about it but it doesn’t matter.”

Exactly right. Having sat behind some coaches, I can definitely say this is true.