World No.10 Kiki Bertens will enter the 2020 season with a restructured team by her side after deciding to split with her coach Raemon Sluiter.
Sluiter, who is a former top 50 player on the ATP Tour, has been coaching Bertens for the past four years. During that period, he has overseen the Dutchwoman achieve a series of milestones. Earlier this year she climbed to fourth place in the WTA rankings to become the highest ranked female tennis player from her country in history. She has also won four Premier titles since 2018.
“Next year I will not continue to work with Raemon anymore.” Bertens wrote in an Instagram post. “I would like to say thank you for everything you have done for me in the past 4 years. I have grown as a player and as a person. Without you this would have been impossible. Thank you for everything!”
The announcement comes a day after Bertens was forced to withdraw from her match against Belinda Bencic at the WTA Finals due to a viral illness. She entered the season-ending event as an alternate, but was moved into the main draw following the withdrawal of Naomi Osaka due to injury.
Elise Tamaëla, who is already a member of Bertens’ team, is set to take over from Sluiter. Tamaëla is also a former player who peaked at a high of 129th in the singles before retiring in 2011 at the age of 27.
“I would like to thank Kiki for her trust, hard work, and dedication over the last four years. I wish her, Remko and Elise all the best for the future. I would like to thank the WTA and my fellow coaches.” Sluiter said in a statement.
“Life on tour can be tough, but I really had the feeling that we were in the same boat.”
Bertens ends the season with a win-loss record of 54-26. Winning two titles in St. Petersburg and Madrid. She also finished runner-up at three other tournaments with the most recent occurring last week at the WTA Elite trophy. She has also scored eight wins over top 10 players, including world No.1 Ash Barty in her opening match at the WTA Finals on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old is set to end the season in the world’s top 10 for the second year in a row.
