The mentality of a tennis coach needs to be that you are always behind the player because your success is always related to the success of the player. You as a tennis coach cannot be before the player. There are some coaches which are so strong and so powerful that they will go before the player and they are the ones leading the boat somewhere and the player follows.

It’s depending on the stage that you work, if you work in junior tennis under 18, 16 or 14, I think that is a different type of coaching. Then there are also the coaches that give lessons, for me they are not coaches, they are trainers.

For me being a coach mainly starts when you are outside of the court. It’s when you watch a match with the player, when you talk to the player about their overall game and there is an exchange of information. The best players are the ones who listen the most. In order to get the player to listen you need to have empathy with the player. If you get to the point where the player is almost playing the match with you, you have an opportunity. If the player plays alone and there is no connection, I don’t believe there is much of an opportunity of improvement.

I always believe that the best tennis coaches are the one that explains why you win, why you lose and makes the player always be ready to come out from their comfort zone to keep improving. The best players are the ones that are always looking to become the best that they can become every time they go to the court.