Recently, one of the leaders of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was quoted as saying that tennis is losing fans and needs to do something to attract and retain them.  On-court coaching has been presented as (one of) the solutions to fix the problem.  Regardless of whether you are for or against this new “fan-friendly” innovation (I am strongly against it), will it really attract more fans to the sport?  OK, maybe some telecasts will be slightly more entertaining by listening to “miced coaches” chatting on the changeover with their players, but will it actually cause more people to tune in to the telecast?  Unlikely.  Based on the results of the brief summer test of on-court coaching, the player who requested a  visit from her coach didn’t suddenly win every match.  One could argue that overall play wasn’t affected dramatically.  So the on-court coaching tests may have generated a fair amount of press, but the mid-match on-court tips seem unlikely to lift the sport to even higher ratings with the fans.  The one-on-one challenge of tennis is one tradition which should be honored… forever!  As Amelie Mauresmo said in a recent Reuters article, "I think the basic thing about tennis is to really solve the problem by yourself on the court -- the tactic part, the mental part, I think you have to figure out by yourself what you have to do, what you're supposed to do, the best way to get out of the match. And I think the essence of tennis itself will change if you allow coaching."