TennisNH

Coach Knows Best: A Player's Court-side Support In Milan

10-Nov-2021 13:23:00 | ATP World Tour

After Brandon Nakashima lost the second set of his match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals on Tuesday, he looked at his coach, Dusan Vemic. Normally on the ATP Tour, the American would only be able to get emotional support from his team. But this week, he can receive court-side coaching from his box, another innovation at the 21-and-under season finale.

“[He was] just sharing where I was playing my best when I was at the baseline or where I was playing my best when I was returning,” Nakashima told ATPTour.com. “[It] was just a little bit of pointers here and there on that and also on the groundstrokes, too. [He told me] some technical stuff to think about on my forehand, on my serve. But nothing too crazy.”

Even if it was not crazy, it worked. The 20-year-old lost just one game in the next two sets to finish the match.

“It was nice to have your coach right there, able to give you some input on how you’re playing out there. I kind of like it more when he doesn’t say too much as opposed maybe to other players, who like their coach talking after every point,” Nakashima said. “But it was nice to hear his thoughts a little bit after that second set. He just gave me a few sentences on what was working and what didn’t work. I think it definitely helped me just get a better understanding of the match out there. I definitely used that input to my advantage.”

Vemic felt that having the ability to coach his player was not critical, but he saw some interesting possibilities that could benefit the fans, too.

“For Brandon, it does not make a big difference,” Vemic said. “But I guess being casual and having the ability to communicate verbally or non-verbally, combined with a couple of tips and fans being able to hear the communication — maybe [for them to] feel [the communication] or be players at the same time [and] learn from those moments — might be an interesting thing.

“All in all, I don’t mind it. I’m pretty sure some players would benefit more, some less. But then again, many other sports have communication. I’m not sure if coaching would be the right word. I feel like [it is] just communication. Some people like to share thoughts… I don’t think it would hurt the sport.”