Have coach, will travel up the rankings

Stephen Brenkley looks at the courtside Svengalis who give players a vital edge

Stephen Brenkley
Saturday 22 June 1996 23:02 BST
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BARELY a month ago, Stefan Edberg was in terminal decline. The former champion of Wimbledon, the United States and Australia had fallen to 45th in the world ran- kings, a drop of 40 places in two years. He was still clinical in his approach to the game, but there was hardly anything to get excited about. Edberg had already announced this would be his final season and his many admirers only hoped it would not be marked with too many defeats against players hardly fit to string his rackets.

At the age of 30, it was fairly obvious there was to be no coming back. Then on the eve of the French Open, the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, the dignified Swede was reunited with Tony Pickard, his long- time coach. The effect was immediate and galvanising. Edberg reached the fourth round and, more importantly, on his way there secured a composed victory over Michael Chang. The improvement continued and Edberg went on to reach the final of the Stella Artois at Queen's Club last weekend. His ranking has shot up 25 places to 20th and he is seeded No 12 at Wimbledon, both unimaginable heights at the beginning of May.

Only Edberg knows what Pic- kard has done to change his game and only Pickard can be sure whe- ther Edberg has listened, but the inference is loud and clear. It is further compelling evidence of the influence the right coach can have on a player. They do far more than sit impassively in the Wimbledon stands, providing essential cutaway shots for cameramen.

Perhaps now the Swede will wonder why he parted company with his English mentor at the end of the 1994 season after 11 years together. The split was mildly surprising at the time. Edberg's form had slipped - his ranking had gone from second to seventh in two years - but it was a mere blip compared to what followed.

"The role of the coach can take on all sorts of forms," said Joe Lynch, an official of the ATP Tour who has observed relationships at close quarters. "Players can very often work on technique themselves but there are other matters like regular practice partners, companionship, someone to have dinner with or even to babysit."

Edberg apart, the most stunning transformation in a player's form recently was that of Andre Agassi. In March 1994 he ranked 31st; his Wimbledon triumph of 1992 was a fading memory and an abundant, instinctive talent was seemingly being frittered away. Enter Brad Gilbert. "As a player Gilbert was known as one who worked out things carefully and he brought this approach to coaching," said Lynch. "He has given Agassi game plans for each opponent and persuaded him to stick with them."

Six months after hiring Gilbert, the balding, flamboyant kid from Las Vegas was the US Open champion. Then he won the Australian title and was ranked No 1. With Gilbert he has won 139 matches and lost 27. Nobody would question the coach's part in his revival.

The technical prowess that Pickard and Gilbert bring to their jobs is by no means universal on the men's tour. Michael Chang is accompanied by elder brother Carl and, less frequently than in his teenage years, by his parents.

The Austrian clay-court specialist Thomas Muster, who has become world No2 but will not now be at the Championships after sustaining a thigh injury, will be missed. So, too, will Ronnie Leitgeb, who Muster always has in tow. Leitgeb, a former recreational tennis player, ice-hockey coach and radio announcer, was introduced to Muster 11 years ago by the former Polish professional Wojtek Fibak.

Goran Ivanisevic also spurns the more conventional coach. Although he was trained by Bob Brett for some seasons, he now has watching him from the stands an old chum from Croatia, Vedra Martic. The pair played tennis together as boys. Vedra is more of a travelling companion than a sophisticated adviser on tennis, but for Ivanisevic it clearly works.

Pete Sampras, coached for years by the late Tim Gullikson, has replaced him with Paul Annacone. Like Gullikson, he is a man in Sampras's own image - quiet, thoughtful, undemonstrative. The new French champion, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, is accompanied by Anatoli Lepeschin. Small, squat, grey-haired and slightly pot-bellied, he does not look like a tennis coach, but he taught Kafelnikov to play.

Not that there is always such consistency. Boris Becker's latest coach is Mike de Palmer Jnr, an alumnus of Nick Bollettieri's Floridan coaching academy. The relationship may not last, though. Becker has had more coaches recently than Blackpool Promenade on a summer weekend.

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