Novak Djokovic a fan of on-court coaching
Novak Djokovic reacts after defeating Bernabe Zapata Miralles during the second round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday. Credit: AP/John Minchillo
Even the best in the world don’t mind someone extra in their corner.
Shortly after making easy work of Bernabe Zapata Miralles in straight sets in the second round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday, second seeded Novak Djokovic put his support behind the relatively new ATP rule that allows on-court coaching — even if he sometimes gets caught yelling at his team.
“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,” Djokovic said after beating Zapata Miralles 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.
But coaching “I think it's good. I think it's good for the audience. It's good for player … 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.”
The WTA has allowed coaching since 2020, but it was introduced to the ATP only last summer, and opinions have been divided. Some believe that it ruins the integrity of an individual sport while others, like Djokovic, note that it’s always happened in one form or another.
Some say, “yeah, you're a tennis player, individual athlete, so you have to figure things out by yourself,” he said. “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.”
Stricker stuns
It took four hours and four minutes, but at the end of it all, 21-year-old Dominic Stricker stunned No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-7(5), 7-6 (8), 6-3 in the Grandstand in one of the first true shockers of this U.S. Open.
The Swiss qualifier, the World No. 128, fought back in the fourth set after Tsitsipas served for the match at 5-3. This is a bitter encore for Tsitsipas, who was ousted in the first round last year, and has yet to make it to the second week of the tournament in six attempts.
“I struggled with my movement today a lot, and it was the main issue with my performance,” Tsitsipas said. “I was off-balance, I was getting caught on wrong foot most of the time . . . It's just that sometimes I had chances to hit the ball a bit, go for it a bit more, and I felt like the ball would skid through the court a bit faster, and it had me out of balance and I framed a few times.”
Tsitsipas defeated Stricker in their previous matchup on grass at Stuttgart.
“For sure the confidence for myself is increasing after today,” Stricker said. “It's just great to see that I have this level over five sets.”
HBCU celebration
For the third year running, the U.S. Open has honored Historically Black Colleges and Universities through its HBCU Live celebration— an event close to Coco Gauff’s heart. Multiple members of Gauff’s family have attended HBCUs and Gauff said that if she goes to college — even online — it will be with a historically Black school.
“You see people of all shades watching tennis,” she said. “I think if we highlight that, you know, maybe one person can see themselves in that and hopefully be on this stage many years in the future. So, I hope that they continue to have this celebration, and I'm really proud that I was able to play on it today.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
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