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March 22, 2007

Invitation Required

Nicole Vaidisova serve

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tested on-court coaching again at the recent Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California.  A player was required to designate her “coach” before the start of each match, i.e. the person who would be allowed to come courtside between sets, during her opponent’s injury timeout or bathroom break.  In addition, the coach was required to wear a microphone during the entire match.  Some players, such as Nicole Vaidisova, opted out of the program
preferring to learn to win on her own.  Therefore, one wondered at times if those players who opted out were at a disadvantage, albeit a voluntary one, when their opponents received advice from their coaches during the allowed match breaks.  The on-court player-coach chats were often broadcast on TV a few minutes later.  Sometimes, the conversations were in a foreign language which limited the number of fans who could follow the conversation.  At other times, one could hear very clearly what was worrying a player during the match which raises some interesting choices for players.  Would you really want your future opponents to hear what was bothering you in a match or what you felt you weren’t hitting well?  In fact, maybe someone watching a live match can relay the conversation to your opponent’s coach who mentions the comments at the next on-court chat.  So what would you do if you were a player competing today?   Although I appreciate the potential appeal for TV and fans, I remain against this innovation simply because it fundamentally alters the one-on-one character of the sport of singles tennis. 

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