Australian Tennis Magazine

March 2000

What are the success secrets of Australia's highest-profile tennis coaches? GEOFF MASTERS reveals what makes them among the best in the world.

At the recently convened Australian Tennis Conference, legendary AFL coach David Parkin made the point that despite his many information gathering tours overseas, he had always come to the conclusion that the best coaches were Australians. In tennis terms, he may be right!

The legendary Harry Hopman is an inductee into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame for his prowess with our Davis Cup stars of the `50s and `60s. Subsequent captains Neale Fraser and John Newcombe are highly regarded, as of course is current Davis Cup coach Tony Roche. Roche has played a major role in the successes of Ivan Lendi and Pat Rafter in particular.

It seems we now have a new breed of Aussie coaches, some of whom have been outstanding players in their own right, like Pat Cash and Darren Cahill, and others like Bob Brett and Gavin Hopper, who haven't been Tour players. So just what is the correlation, and what do those four coaches of the modern era bring to the game and their players? I managed to speak with all of them during the Australian Open.

For Darren Cahill, travelling coach of Lleyton Hewitt, the transition from Tour player to coach has been quick, and, one gets the feeling, quite by chance. Darren was a US Open singles semi-finalist, as well as an outstanding Australian Davis Cup player. His career was cut short with a series of knee problems, and he retired to his home town of Adelaide to pursue other interests, including some stints with the electronic media.

During this time he became a regular hitting partner of Hewitt's, and as Lleyton's career inevitably took off, and the rapport between them continued to grow, it seemed a natural progression that Darren should remain a part of it.

Darren says that their off court relationship has become just like that of a "big brother", but on the court, the need for respect is maintained. "Lleyton and I have so many of the same interests, coming from the same town, even as far as our love for football, but Lleyton has respect for me as a coach, and in fact for anyone of that former player era," Cahill said.

Darren also likes the way Lleyton is learning to overcome difficulties. "When he's been wrong or played up in a manner that I think deserves a serve, I let him know, and to his credit he listens and takes it. He is still so young and learning, but that's why I think he will be such a great player he takes it all in and absorbs it'.

While Darren at this stage takes control of Lleyton's fitness program, as well as having considerable input into his playing schedule, Lleyton's first coach, Peter Smith, is still involved with the young man's technique. It is a formula that appears to be working well.

Darren is aware of the need for his protege to have a strong after match recovery ethic as the way he plays is so physically demanding. He is also keen for Lleyton to continue to play as much doubles as possible in the immediate future. Despite the incredible success that has already been achieved, the current goal is still to develop a game for the future.

In the case of Pat Cash, former Wimbledon singles Pat Cash as champion and Davis Cup star, working with Mark Philippoussis came after a request from Mark's full-time and only coach at that time, Gavin Hopper. Gavin's background is in the fitness and training area, but through his associations with Wally Masur, Mark Kratzmann, Amanda Coetzer and Monica Seles, he has developed a more expanded reputation.

Gavin felt that he couldn't always get from Mark the 100 per cent commitment in some on-court sessions, and believed that Pat could help in that area. Pat had always been able to perform on the big occasions, clearly displayed via his Wimbledon and Davis Cup successes, and that was the link Gavin was hoping Pat could bring to Mark. Pat had always been a fan of Mark's, and was enthusiastic about the prospect, and believed he could help. "I really believed his shot selection was pretty average, and that he was allowing all the pressure to be put on his own shoulders the way he was playing," Cash said. "1 always was a serve and volleyer, and a chip and charger, and I wanted him to learn something about that style of play".

Through the work of Mark's initial coach, Archie Adams, Mark's technique has always been considered very sound. Nevertheless, Pat believed there was still room for improvement, particularly in the volleying area, but felt uncomfortable in putting those views forth until both parties got to know each other better "It was at Wimbledon that we first got together, and his swings were too big on his volleys, and his movement to the net was not right. Even so, I couldn't believe what a clean hitter of the ball he was."

Pat believes that his credibility as a former player allows him to help Mark with his match tactics in particular, as well as the planning of his year-round playing schedule. "He is like me," says Pat, "in that the less tournaments he plays the better he plays because he maintains his enjoyment. He has to improve his returns, passing shots and tactics by about five percent to start winning Grand Slams."

Former Melbourne club player Bob Brett is not out of the Cash or Cahill mould, but has had outstanding success with players under his tutelage. Bob travelled to the United States in the early 1970s to "learn all I could from Mr Hopman". After spending some time working for Hopman at the Port Washington Tennis Academy, Bob travelled with players such as Johan Kriek and Fritz Buehuing in the "Rossignol Tennis Team". As his reputation grew, he also spent time with players such as the "Supermacs", Peter McNamara and Paul McNamee, and John Lloyd.

But it wasn't until he teamed up with Boris Becker that Bob really "arrived" as a coach of reputation. During that two year stint, Boris won Wimbledon, the US Open and Australian singles titles, and achieved a world No.1 ranking. He subsequently had a successful working relationship with Goran Ivanisevic, before, in his mind, an unsuccessful period working with Andrei Medvedev.

Bob is now working with German Nicolas Kiefer, who has achieved a career-high ranking of No.6 since starting with Brett two years ago. "He has superb athletic skills and is very good tactically at working out how to put things together," says Brett. "Sometimes in his youth he would make the wrong choices, but that is part of developing." Bob is a great believer that a coach cannot be truly successful until he knows his player as a person both on and off the court. As such, Bob has been known to take his players trekking through the Alps, or on tours of Italian architecture. He has also fostered a relationship with Keifer and the great Russian pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, with the Russian passing on a work ethic designed to "expect and demand more of oneself".

So what can we glean from these Aussie coaches? Certainly Cahill and Cash believe that their former experiences as players can help with such issues as shot selection, knowing when to talk with their pupils just prior to a big match, what to expect from the media, and an understanding of just what the pressure is like when playing at Grand Slam events.

For Brett, getting to know your player and how then to bring the best out of them was the major challenge. But for all of them, I came away with the feeling that these coaches all were striving to ensure that their players had the following qualities:

(a) To be able to perform on the big occassion.

(b) To demand and expect more of themselves.

(c) To develop the ability to overcome difficulties.

Maybe Parkin was right the best coaches are in Australia!

Geoff Masters is the Queensland State Coach and the Head Coach of the Queensland Academy of Sport. He is currently undertaking Tennis Australia's Elite Coaches Course 2000.