Wimbledon this year has been full of surprises. First off, the Lucky Loser Solana Sierra is headed to the Round of 16 in a day, then last night Carlos Alcaraz had a pretty tough battle with Jan-Lennard Struff, who is his senior by thirteen years. Then Joao Fonseca, who seemed to be the underdog to watch, got knocked out of the tournament by Chile’s Nicolas Jarry. But most recently there was another big surprise, yes that match between former champion Elena Rybakina and first time winner on grass Clara Tauson.

Tauson managed to sail through the match, winning 73% of the points on her first serves and being very self aware of that fact too, saying in a post match interview, “My serve is always a big weapon.” Prior to this championship Tauson had not won a match on grass, so her 7-6(6) 6-3 success here is commendable and credited to her boyfriend…and her coach?

One and the same actually. In the post match interview, Tauson made it a point to draw the connection for everyone, saying “Me and my coach, who’s also my boyfriend…worked so hard the whole year and the end of last year.” Of course between those two statements was a little teasing from the audience and some friendly banter from the interviewer, who commented, “I take it you have good days and bad days.”

In fact speculation into Tauson’s relationship with her coach dates back to February of this year when she made it to the Dubai Open finals. Kasper Elsvad, who is now confirmed to be Tauson’s boyfriend, joined her team in 2024, and clearly the two have both good on and off court chemistry because whatever he’s doing seem to be working!

Clara Tauson and her coach/boyfriend aren’t the only on and off court power couple!

Maybe it isn’t the worst idea to date your coach, judging by Tauson’s recent performance that certainly seems to be the case. Further, there’s also Madison Keys and Bjorn Fratangelo. Keys, who has seven WTA titles to her name, started dating Fratangelo in 2016 but only asked him to be her coach in 2023. After she was knocked out of Rolland Garros, Keys no longer had a coach, and asked her Fratangelo, who was, by then her husband, if he’d do the job. Though the couple spent time deliberating the pros and cons, it was clear where the scales ultimately lay, as Fratangelo has successfully coached Keys through many of the challenges of her career.

Similarly, it seems with Tauson that switching coaches and having her boyfriend on her team has helped her game tremendously, and if she manages another win on grass in her quarterfinal match against either Iga Swiatek or Danielle Collins. If Tauson manages to win that one, then maybe more players should start dating their coaches!

If Tauson wins her match on Monday that would place her amongst the best women Tennis players from Denmark, as it would be the furthest a woman from Denmark has ever gotten in Wimbledon! The 22 year old (and her boyfriend/coach) may really be on to something.