'I hate it' - Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev give view on off-court coaching trial ahead of Cincinnati quarter-final
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Published 19/08/2022 at 10:01 GMT
Taylor Fritz is not a fan of the ATP's off-court coaching trial, calling it a "dumb rule" that he "hates". The American is set to face world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Medvedev believes the coaching rule could be a "gamechanger sometimes" but is overall lukewarm on the idea and doesn't think it will have a huge impact.
Medvedev lukewarm on ATP's off-court coaching rules
Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev have both given their verdict on the ATP’s new off-court coaching trial ahead of their Cincinnati Open quarter-final, with the American calling it a “dumb rule”.
The trial started in July and allows players to receive verbal and non-verbal instructions from a coach in a designated seat around the court.
Verbal coaching is only permitted when the player is at the same end of the court while non-verbal coaching, such as hand signals, is permitted at any time.
Nick Kyrgios has previously been a strong critic of the move, saying it takes away the “beauty” of the sport, and Fritz shared a similar view after beating the Australian in Cincinnati.
“I haven't talked to Mike [Russell, Fritz’s coach] and he hasn't talked to me one time since the coaching has become a thing. It's a dumb rule.
“Tennis is an individual sport. Why are we making it not an individual sport? A huge part of tennis is, in my mind, like as tennis is as much mental as it is physical, and a big part of it is you need to be figuring it out on the court for yourself. You need to be the one figuring it out.
“I think it's ridiculous that you can be mentally not there, not good analytically, not good at kind of working through things and coming up with strategies, and you can have someone tell you what to do. I hate it.”
Off-court coaching has been a contentious issue in men's tennis for a while.
When the trial period was announced, Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou congratulated the ATP for "legalising a practice that has been going on at almost every match for decades”.
Players have previously accused opponents of 'illegally' receiving coaching during matches. At the Australian Open earlier this year, Medvedev expressed his frustration that Stefanos Tsitsipas was seemingly receiving instructions from his father Apostolos.
The world No. 1 said this week he is not against the new rules but doesn’t think it makes too much of an impact.
"During the match, I don't really see how a coach can help like in some other sports, where tactics are important.
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"When a tennis match is there, I guess it can be one match out of five where suddenly he’s going to be like, ‘change your position on return’, or, ‘go more to his backhand’, if he sees it from the outside. So it can be a gamechanger sometimes.
"At the same time, many matches it's...let’s say I play Fritz tomorrow, it’s our first encounter, still I know how he plays and he knows how I play. I don’t think on-court coaching tomorrow is going to make a huge difference. But in general, I’m okay with it, like I was never against it.
"It's just that the rule is that if I'm on the side, if I understand it right, he shouldn't do it. Like the opponent's coach and that's what they should respect. And if not, I think it's fine."
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He has practised with Fritz before and says he will need to be at his best to beat the American.
“Taylor is a great player. We have hit quite a few times. Before ATP Cup we had a session and I think he beat me, which doesn’t really matter, but I said to my coach, ‘Wow he can play really well, it can be a good year for him.’ Then he won Indian Wells.
"Maybe he could have done better at some other tournaments, but he is a Masters [1000] champion. He is an amazing player and I need to be at my best to try and beat him.”
Rafael Nadal’s early exit in Cincinnati means Medvedev will be top seed at the US Open, which starts on August 29 in New York.
Medvedev beat Novak Djokovic in last year’s final to claim his first Grand Slam title.
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