Novak Djokovic has opened up on the reason he sometimes has to shout at his team during matches. Since coaching from the stands was introduced last year, the world No 2 has often been involved in animated exchanges with his box. And Djokovic picked his side in the divisive debate over whether mid-match coaching was good for tennis, saying he supported the move.
Tennis introduced a trial of coaching from the stands last summer, meaning players’ teams can help them out during a match and give them advice when they are on the same side of the court. For young players like Carlos Alcaraz, the relatively new rule has been in place for a large part of their careers.
But for 36-year-old Djokovic, the mid-match coaching is still a very new element as the Serb spent 19 years competing without the luxury of having help from the sidelines. While some players and pundits don’t want to see coaching allowed, the 23-time Grand Slam champion was in favour of the decision to allow it – though he admitted he sometimes had trouble hearing his team.
“Well, it’s different in basketball because you can basically go to your coach or bench any time you want. We are not able to do that,” the world No 2 explained after his second-round win at the US Open.
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“So we have to sometimes raise our voice in order for our team to hear us or for us to hear them, because otherwise, you know, we have to communicate with the signs or signals. You know, it’s louder out on the court.”
After explaining why he sometimes had to shout at his camp, Djokovic said he would also back an introduction of even more types of coaching during matches. He continued: “I would want to see, honestly, you know, a possibility of – I’m actually supportive of the on-court coaching or headset communication, whatever ways of getting more coaching. I think it’s good. I think it’s good for the audience. It’s good for players.”
Responding to those who weren’t in favour of mid-match coaching, he added: “I understand that there are some, you know, opponents of this, you know, coaching rule that are saying, Yeah, you’re a tennis player, individual athlete, so you have to figure things out by yourself.
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“Well, you have to figure them out anyway, even if the coach comes in, say, in a set break or whatever, and you talk, you still have to have to play yourself, right? There is no substitution. So it’s quite different, you know, than basketball. It’s really not comparable.”
And Djokovic also thought it gave more transparency, with most players well aware that their opponents were receiving some guidance when it wasn’t in the rules. “But yeah, I’m actually happy that we are able now to freely communicate rather than hiding from a chair umpire or supervisor like we did for many years. So it’s good. I’m supportive of that,” he said.
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