The ATP announced on Tuesday that it would test coaching from the stands after Wimbledon, notably during the National Bank Open in Montreal in August, which constitutes a small revolution in the purist world of tennis.
From July 11 and until the end of the season Masters, coaches will be authorized to give advice in the middle of a match, which until now was strictly prohibited on the men’s circuit, with the exception of a few tournaments, including the Davis Cup.
But both the player and his coach will be subject to strict rules:
- The coach giving the advice must be seated in a specific place in the stands;
- Verbal instructions will only be permitted when the player is on the same side of the field as his coach. They must be limited to a few words, conversations will be prohibited;
- Non-verbal signals – such as hand gestures – will be permitted at all times;
- If the player has to leave the pitch during the game, the coach is not allowed to talk to him.
Any athlete or coach who violates any of these rules will be subject to a warning or even a fine, the amount of which has not yet been disclosed by the ATP.
Already on the WTA
No more, therefore, the controversies linked to gestures mimed quietly from the stands. These measures have already been in place for two years on the WTA, the female counterpart of the ATP.
Gossips will say that this new rule, which will be reassessed at the end of this season, will make the clan of Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas happy.
The sixth in the world has received several warnings for “coaching” in recent seasons, including in the final at the Monte-Carlo Masters in April.
“In addition to ensuring consistency in our sport for the benefit of our players and fans, this trial is intended to create more intrigue during games,” the men’s circuit said in a press release on Tuesday.
- In Bad Homburg, Canada’s Bianca Andreescu easily passed the first round against Italy’s Martina Trevisan in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday. Her compatriot Rebecca Marino did not enjoy the same success at Eastbourne, where she fell in the second round to Italian Camila Giorgi (7-5 and 6-4).