Do former players always make the best coaches?

Mirra Andreeva learning from her coach, Conchita Martínez. (Getty/Tim Clayton)

Can former players be decisive for current players when it comes to long-term success, and how does the dynamic in current partnerships work between coaches and former players turned coaches in relation to their players? 

The landscape of tennis coaching in professional tennis across both the WTA and ATP tours has evolved drastically over the decades. One facet of said coaching has always been the former player-turned-coach. Former players have always made up the ranks of coaching top professional players on tour, with a substantial majority of professional players vying to have former players be an integral part of their coaching staff. It has become commonplace for players to trade and switch coaches, who were successful and decorated professional players in their own right.

Yet with all of the controversy and discourse surrounding the topic today, do former players really make the best coaches for high-level professional tennis?

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On the WTA tour, nine out of the world's top 10 players have at least once had a coach on their staff who was a former professional player, with varying degrees of success. Arguably, the most successful coach and former player of that group is world No.10 Mirra Andreeva's coach, Conchita Martínez.

As a player, Martínez holds a Grand Slam and three Olympic medals under her belt, as well as being inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2020. She won the WTA Coach of the Year Award in 2021 for her efforts in coaching Garbiñe Muguruza and has also coached Karolína Plíšková prior to working with Andreeva. 

It makes perfect sense that a former player who knows the highs and lows of the tour would be able to make a successful transition to coaching players at the highest levels. But what happens when such partnerships turn sour? 

A recent example was the short-lived, explosive coaching relationship between two-time Grand Slam finalist and former world No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas and former world No.2 and 2001 Wimbledon champion coach Goran Ivanišević. The controversy began last year after Tsitsipas' retirement in the opening round of Wimbledon, when Ivanišević, who was still coaching the Greek player at the time, stated he had "never seen a more unprepared player" in his life. Needless to say, the relationship lasted for less than two months, but it uncovered an interesting reality in the world of coaching professional players.  

Yet Ivanišević previously coached Novak Djokovic for six years, and the partnership was extremely successful, where Djokovic won 12 majors while working with the Croatian coach.

Before that, Djokovic won six Grand Slam titles while working with coach Boris Becker between 2014 and 2016. Therefore, there have been many fruitful coaching relationships between successful former players and current top stars. 

However, another recent controversy surrounds Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, who was left completely blindsided when his coach, Francisco Roig, a former player in the late 80s until the early 2000s, unexpectedly called it quits on their coaching partnership. 

Roig was supposed to coach the young French star until at least the grass court season of this year. Perricard, however, expressed that it was his agent who informed him of the news before social media videos circulated of Roig coaching Iga Świątek. Perricard was left stunned after believing the partnership was going well, and expressed his disappointment online. 

The constant changing allegiances and switches in the tennis coaching world begs the question: Can former players truly always be the best coaches? Have we lost the essence of a coach and player sticking by each other and creating long-term partnerships that translate to sustained success? Or is this simply the new age of coaching: quick fixes and an ever-changing climate?

Some could argue that former players turned coaches are holding onto their former glory and constantly chasing the high of wins on court, translating to trying to work with high-performing players because of short-term success instead of finding a profound partnership. 

The flip side could also involve the pressure of a player trying to live up to their coach's former success. Does the spotlight on the coach dim the player's light? 

All these questions ultimately point to outside factors affecting how a former player may coach a current pro on tour. But the intrinsic values of coaching, teaching, guiding, analysing, and communicating are not only a talent but a learned skill that takes time, effort, and experience.

And even though a former player knows what work their trainee may need to reach the next level and maintain success, they themselves may not have the tools necessary yet to build that with them. 

Needless to say, there have been many substantial and successful partnerships between former players turned coaches and their contemporary pupils. But the quick-turnovers, firings, and quitting we are witnessing could be ushering in a new era of short-term, short-lived coaching partnerships.

Are former players turned coaches to blame?

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