Fritz Slams New Coaching Rule And Proposes 'Mics In Boxes' Alternative

Wednesday, 13 November 2024 at 02:37

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byJordan Reynolds

Taylor Fritz gave an in-depth description of why he opposes the introduction of off-court coaching at an ATP Finals press conference.

Last month, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced that off-court coaching would officially be allowed in certain situations after several trials on the ATP and WTA Tours in recent years.

Although the four Grand Slams, the ATP, and the WTA have some discretion about how to roll it out, general rules state that off-court coaching can be verbal or nonverbal through hand signals.

Off-court coaching is also permitted at the change of ends, between sets, and between points, provided the other player is not disturbed, especially when they are the server.

Proponents of the move believe it will increase transparency and stop some coaches from giving tactical and technical advice to players slyly, which is unfair to those who follow the rules.

However, the ITF's announcement did not receive a universally positive response. Fritz and Shapovalov were among the players who opposed the introduction of off-court coaching on social media.

In his press conference after beating Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Finals, Fritz said the one-on-one mental battle between players is part of what makes tennis so exciting and will be eroded by off-court coaching being freely allowed.

"Yeah, I think one thing that makes tennis such a unique sport, such a cool sport, is it's genuinely as mental as it is physical. It's a big, key part - in my opinion - to be able to figure things out and strategize by yourself. People change things they're doing on the court to adjust to the opponent. I don't want a coach to be able to tell someone, hey...."

"I just think 'one versus one' part of tennis where not only are you playing against each other, you're also having this mind battle against each other. It's such a big part of the game. I think not a lot of people realize. I think you do have to play almost at the highest level to really understand how much strategy is."

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Fritz thinks only general encouragement should be allowed from team members in the stands and believes the ITF got bullied into allowing off-court coaching from next year because of players and coaches not following the rules.

"I mean, for the first part, I think as far as it should go with the coach talking to you is giving you encouragement, saying, great shot, good job, keep going, keep fighting stuff like that. I think when it gets into strategic: Back up, hit it this way, cover this, I don't think that's good."

"I think a lot of the reason they made this rule in the first place is they were almost in a way bullied into it because a lot of people would just break the rules anyway and coach anyways."