Off-court coaching has been a controversial topic in tennis for some time. Last month, the ATP- the agency for men’s tennis, announced that they would conduct a test in late 2022 that would allow coaches to interact with players during matches.

After the Cincinnati game, when Taylor Fritz was asked about the trial, he addressed it as a “dumb” rule. However, on the other hand, World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev isn’t against introducing off-court coaching to the men’s tour, but he’s unsure about the impact it will have. 

Taylor Fritz goes against the rule

The new ATP coaching rules have evoked mixed opinions from players on the Tour. They decided that the tour would allow coaching from the box during games and continue the process until the U.S. Open and the end of the season.

“I haven’t talked to Mike [Russell, Fritz’s coach] and he hasn’t talked to me one time since the coaching has become a thing. It’s a dumb rule,” Fritz said when asked about whether this is a good thing or not. The players stand by the fact that tennis is an individual sport and that this concept should not change. 

“You need to be the one figuring it out. I think it’s ridiculous that you can be mentally not there, not good analytically, not good at kind of working through things and coming up with strategies, and you can have someone tell you what to do. I hate it.” added Fritz.

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As long as they do it from a certain place and do not interfere with their opponents. The signal can only be given when the players are at the same end of the field. This process will also take place for the first time at the US Open. The extrajudicial coaching process will continue at least until this year’s ATP Finals.

The process, launched last month, allows players to be verbally and non-verbally coached from designated seats, as long as they do not interfere with play or interfere with opponents. 

World’s Number 1, Daniil Medvedev believes that even if the players never face each other, as in the upcoming games, the impact of the rule change will be much less than Fritz implies. Fans applauded his attitude as he seemed mentally stronger despite losing to Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

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Fritz arrived at the Cincinnati Open after losing in the knockout rounds at both the City Open and the Canadian Open, losing both to Dan Evans. A good run in Cincinnati will certainly move him closer to a top 10 seed at the US Open. His best results to date are his two third-round appearances in 2018 and his 2020 appearance. He was eliminated in the second round of last year’s New York Major.