Two days ago the big news broke, the regulation of the coaching on the ATP from July 11. A trial period that will last until the end of the season and that everyone wants to comment on. Yesterday Carlos Moyá did it in Eurosport, putting you totally against this measure, so today it’s time to listen to the words of Gilles Cervarawho is in favor of change. In an interview with Tennis Majorsthe Frenchman values the positive aspects of this practice and stresses that there will not be too great a change in the future.
In favor or oppossing?
“I am rather in favor, above all to break this hypocrisy in the environment and lack of consistency with the sanctions to the coaches. Sometimes the chair umpire does not dare, suddenly the next day he dares for a coaching less conspicuous. Then there are coaches who are fined for simply saying ‘we will!‘ during the game. It was not a stable situation, it was not well regulated.”
An idea that comes from behind
“We had been waiting for the announcement for a while. As I understand it, the decision was made after consulting several coaches. I was consulted by Daniel Vallverdú, who had been trying to get this initiative up and running for some years. I pointed out to him that we had to stop this hypocrisy now, since all coaches do coaching at some point, either with words or gestures. From now on, it is finally authorized as a practice that exists”.
Far from being a revolution
“I don’t think it will change much, since the rule will not allow a calm dialogue to take place, as there can be in training. In the end, the theme coaching It depends a lot on the personal relationship between the player and the coach, tennis is a very internal sport, some players see the coach who talks too much as a parasite. It has happened to me in Daniil’s games, seeing the rival’s coach do coaching and have the opposite effect, that is, sometimes it has even been good for me”.
Coaching verbal and non-verbal
“There are two types of coaching, but they cannot always be carried out. On large courts, for example, the boxes are far away and the coaches are inaudible, so the second option is to prepare other types of codes, such as gestures or other simple movements. It is about transmitting a message in a second, so you have to have it very well studied. Then there will be other improvised moments that will occur with the development of the match”.
“The purity of one against one”
“That does not go with me much, all individual sports are sports where athletes have to find solutions and where coaches can do coachingI don’t see why in tennis it has to be any different. Why, being tennis, can’t the coach send a message to his player when he has him four meters away on the court? I don’t understand”.
The origin of doing coaching
“For me, it always comes from the player, so nothing about my work with Daniil will change. I will not do more than before, I will simply continue doing things to live up to what the rival proposes. With this rule, the coach may take more initiative, but he will have to measure if he is good for his player, if he really needs it. The fact that the coach speaks does not mean that the player will be better, he will have to give the correct information, at the correct time and in the correct way. It’s an art, sometimes it’s like walking a tightrope.”
Escape in the last game in Halle
“In this case, it’s mostly about the slips I have with Daniil. Simply, he loses his temper because of a detail or because the rival is better, he doesn’t calm down and then the thing catches fire. When things get that far there is nothing to do, the only way to improve is to leave. In my case, I leave the track because I don’t accept that situation”.
