The former Croatian tennis player, Ivan Ljubičić, has taken up various roles during his illustrious tennis career. From outclassing opponents on the ATP Tour to coaching one of the greatest, Roger Federer, the 43-year-old, has excelled in every position.
Ljubičić recently spoke about the one thing he thinks has been damaging the beautiful game of tennis. The former world No. 3 player revealed that on-court coaching has been the most stressful part of the sport and expressed his disappointment with the ‘modern’ rule in coaching that is backed by his peer, Patrick Mouratoglou.
Roger Federer’s former coach details the problems of on-court coaching
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
The former tennis player was recently featured in the podcast, ‘The Functional Tennis Podcast,’ in which he talked about some challenging circumstances he faced during his illustrious tennis journey. Meanwhile, he was asked about his most stressful role, considering he was both a great tennis player and coach. Ljubičić didn’t shy away from giving a blunt answer, as he faced a few struggles during his coaching duties.
He said, “Coaching by far, yeah coaching sitting in the stands. Well, I mean now with the coaching is allowed. But when I was coaching Roger and Milos, coaching was not allowed. So sitting in the stands not being able to say anything, just suffer and hope and pray and whatever everything that comes nothing you can do is just hard. That’s the most stressful part.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Later, the Croatian tennis coach was asked whether he was in favor of in-game coaching or not. Ljubičić answered by saying that he is completely against the notion. In revealing, he also defied his peer, Patrick Mouratoglou’s ideas as he openly supports on-court coaching. Ljubičić said that it damages the game immensely. He added, “I think it just takes away so much from what we were special for and you know, the pressures and distress that players have to find a way to go through themselves.”
The former tennis player went on to say that he thinks coaching is a terrible idea for the sport. But he also said, “I guess you know, modern times come with modern ideas and I’m afraid looks like we lost that fight. “
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
WATCH THIS STORY: Serena Williams pays tribute to Roger Federer.
Do you agree with the Croatian tennis coach’s opinions about on-court coaching? Let us know in the comments section.