‘Sad to see’: Top tennis players slam ‘off-court coaching’ rule change

A massive rule change will get its first exposure in Australian tennis tournaments this summer, but it won’t be popular with all players.

Legalised off-court coaching is coming to tennis, with Australian tournaments to be the first exposed to the significant rule change when it comes into effect on January 1.

Players will be able to receive “brief and discreet” instructions from their coaches in the box between points in the formalisation of a move which has previously been met with heavy criticism from greats including Roger Federer.

The International Tennis Federation announced this week it was satisfied with almost eight years of trials and would allow all ATP and WTA tour matches along with the four grand slams to permit off-court coaching.

Australia’s United Cup, Brisbane International and Canberra International tournaments will be among the first events likely to introduce the change ahead of the 2025 Australian Open.

ITF integrity boss Stuart Miller said the move would be welcomed by players, coaches and chair umpires, who had said monitoring exchanges between players and their personal box had overburdened them.

American tennis great Serena Williams was one of the last players to be sanctioned at a grand slam for receiving coaching in the 2018 US Open final. Picture: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images

Serena Williams was infamously handed a code violation for receiving instructions from coach Patrick Mouratoglou during her 2018 US Open final against Naomi Osaka, sparking a major blow-up against the chair umpire.

Flushing Meadows has since been among the tournaments to have trialled coaching, along with the United Cup.

The trial was met with opposition from some corners, including Federer in 2019 and current world No. 5 Taylor Fritz, who two years ago called it a “dumb rule”.

“Tennis is an individual sport – why are we making it not an individual sport? Tennis is as much mental as it is physical, and a big part of it is you need to figuring it out on the court for yourself,” Fritz told reporters after a 2022 match against Nick Kyrgios.

“I think it’s ridiculous that you can be mentally not good, analytically not good at working through things and coming up with strategies, and you can have someone tell you what to do – I hate it.”

Wimbledon semi-finalist and former world No. 10 Denis Shapovalov wrote on X that the changes were “sad to see”.

“Not just as a tennis player but as a fan of this sport it’s sad to see this new off court coaching rule,” he said on Tuesday.

“Tennis is special because you are out there alone. Why are you trying to change the beauty of this game.”

Fritz also posted: “Can we stop ruining the 1v1 mental/strategic aspect of the sport PLEASE.”

Canadian star Denis Shapovalov says the introduction of legal off-court coaching from January 1 next year was ‘sad to see’. Picture: Hector Retamal / AFP

Miller said the ITF had consulted with “all key stakeholders” before making the change permanent.

“Players felt it was a positive development and makes tournaments more interesting for them,” he said.

“Coaches have said it helps player development and helps to improve the standing of their profession.

“Chair umpires have said it improves their ability to focus on monitoring the game and making the right decisions, rather than whether or not a coach is coaching against the rules.”

It will be left to individual tournaments to determine what forms of coaching are accepted, and what penalties will remain for coaching that comes in a “manner or at a time that is not permitted”.

Originally published as ‘Sad to see’: Top tennis players slam ‘off-court coaching’ rule change