Ugo Humbert won his fifth and sixth ATP Tour titles this year. Although he demolished his opponents back-to-back, Humbert was not under the guidance of his usual team. Instead, the French player was being led by a temporary coach, who turned out to be none other than his girlfriend, Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, who is a tennis player herself.

The 25-year-old Frenchwoman helped him beat the in-form Grigor Dimitrov to win the Open 13 in Marseille. She competes on the WTA Tour, where she has a career-high ranking of No. 139 and six ITF singles titles. She has been traveling with her beau on the ATP Tour with the World No. 18 since the beginning of the season as she recovers from an injury.

Humbert’s full-time coach, Jeremy Chardy, was unable to attend as his team prepared for the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, but Andrianjafitrimo took to the stand. She served as her boyfriend’s coach in southern France, where the Frenchman eventually won the title by defeating Dimitrov in the final. “She’s a player and she’s injured now. But Jeremy was not in Marseille, so I said to her, ‘OK, this week you are my coach’,” Humbert told ATPTour.com.

“She gave me a lot of confidence because when I arrived, I was not really confident after a bad week of practice. But during the matches, she was so focused on what I had to do. She’s so positive on the court and I felt she made me really relaxed.”

While she guided the Frenchman to a fantastic win, she did not continue being his coach after the Open 13. In an interview with ATP Tour, she talked about the challenges she faced when acting as Humbert’s temporary coach.

Ugo Humbert’s girlfriend on staying “really focused and really calm” as a coach

Andrianjafitrimo found it tough to be a coach to the Frenchman as opposed to her regular role as a player. She told ATP Tour, “It was really different from playing because you are on the other side of the court, and you have to stay really focused and really calm. I know how it is when you are on the court and looking at your coach and you just want to see how calm he is. I was really stressed and tight in my mind, but I could not show him, so I had to stay really calm, even if I was tight.”

It took the utmost control from her to remain calm and not become overzealous as a player would be during a point. When a player is stressed, they can move around the court and hit the ball hard to relieve the tension, but a coach has to maintain a cool and calm mind. This made her stressed, but she enjoyed the experience regardless. 

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Tessah Andrianjafitrimo hung up her gloves as temporary coach and Jeremy Chardy donned the role again in future tournaments like the Monte Carlo Mastera, as Humbert continues to face big challenges. 

Who Is Ugo Humbert’s Coach at the Monte Carlo Masters? Everything You Need to Know about the Former French Pro Jeremy Chardy