TENNIS – A trend that appeared last season and that will spill into 2015 was that of legendary former players pairing up with the game’s top performers to try and steer them to the greatness they achieved. Sometimes the results of these coaches aren’t clear to see but in the case of Goran Ivanisevic it couldn’t be more evident. Bruno Bergareche Sans
A trend that appeared last season and that will spill into 2015 was that of legendary former players pairing up with the game’s top performers to try and steer them to the greatness they achieved. What’s fascinating is that the former pro’s seem to link up with players who have similar characteristics to themselves, meaning they can relate to their style of play, but perhaps what these top players need precisely is something a little bit different to help them out with the parts of their game that still have room for improvement.
Having said that a player of Federer or Djokovic’s calibre probably isn’t going to learn anything new in terms of playing tennis, as they most probably have surpassed the level of Edberg and Becker respectively. But what these coaches can bring to the table is experience and, above all, another top level tactical view from which to feed off. When Federer faces Nadal or Djokovic he has his ideas on how to tackle these two top players but Edberg may have different ideas which, combined, will give the Swiss maestro a vaster spectrum of information and that’s precisely where these coaches play a big role.
Sometimes the results of these coaches aren’t clear to see but in the case of Goran Ivanisevic it couldn’t be more evident. One of the true characters of the game in the nineties, Ivanisevic defied all the odds on his way to winning his maiden Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2001 as a Wild Card in what was one of sport’s most remarkable stories. When he partnered Marin Cilic, many eye brows were raised as to whether his temperament was ideal to overlook the career of a promising yet shy tennis player. But that’s exactly what a player needs from his coach: for him to contribute characteristics the player doesn’t have. Ivanisevic provides the spark and gung-ho mentality that Cilic was lacking. Marin was reliable and consistent; he beat the players he had to beat but he lost to the players he had to lose against. With Goran in his corner he let the chains free and started striking the ball freely without too much of a care, just like Ivanisevic did, enjoying the game instead of being eaten up by fear. That mixture of ideas was devastating and led Cilic to an unthinkable US Open title in September with one of the performances of the year against Federer in the semi-final.
On paper Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker were better players, as was Michael Chang, who mentors Kei Nishikori, but coaching is a different world and it’s about providing your pupil with what he lacks and that’s exactly what Goran Ivanisevic does with Marin Cilic. Another interesting partnership which has come together for 2015 is that of Richard Gasquet and Sergi Bruguera. The Spaniard could help to raise the Frenchmen’s game, especially on clay, which would be much needed for Gasquet who seems to be submerged in a sea of doubts. That partnership remains to be seen but if there’s a ranking for coaches, right now Goran Ivanisevic is the man at the top of the pile.
