A coach plays an important part in supporting the journey of a player to the top; providing years of accumulated experience, work, and lessons. And so was the contribution of Wim Fissette, who supported players like Victoria Azarenka, Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters, and others on their journey to realize their potential.

During an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, Fissette was asked about the developments in the game of the former world no.1, Victoria Azarenka. The coach detailed major developments, as well as setbacks that he suffered as a coach.

How did he strengthen the former World No.1’s game? What was the major setback that he suffered?

Victoria Azarenka’s coach on how she missed out on securing the WTA No.1 rank

Any tennis fan would surely acknowledge Victoria Azarenka’s powerful backhand. The Belarusian player is famous for her strong backhand strokes, on the WTA Tour, particularly. Hence, during the interview, Fissette was asked about his contribution to the development of the technical nuances in the former World No.1’s game.

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He humbly detailed his contribution and said, “Backhand, maybe the best backhand on the women’s tour. And as a coach, I learned a lot from VicAz (Victoria Azarenka). That’s the interesting part, the backhand side that was already before my time. It was one of the best shots in women’s tennis and I learned...”

He further added about their effort on making her strong parts stronger. And how he carried on his learning to other players. “I learned a lot, like how to develop it better, and how to activate the right muscles; so I learned a lot from her. And used it actually with other players I work with…”

However, the coach also opened up on improving her troublesome serve and strengthening her forehand. “We definitely worked on the serve. The serve before that was an issue, not enough power on the first serve and the second serve a little bit more instable. So that was a very important point. And also we tried to make the forehand a little bit of a bigger weapon than in the past.”

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However, before they could reap the result of their work, Azarenka was announced her pregnancy. And that sure did hurt their ambition to be on the top; the World No.1 again. As he further added, “…And yeah, for me, it was of course unfortunate that she was pregnant in 2016 because she was for me like on the way to become no. 1.”

Certainly, it was a journey full of ebbs and flows, and lots of learning.

What do you think about Azarenka’s journey? Let us know in the comments.