A sporting axiom is the “other guy” theory of coaches.
A team that loses more games than it wins under a “players’ coach,” who focuses on building rapport with athletes and fostering a relaxed environment, will frequently switch them out for a strict disciplinarian. High-energy, passionate instructors who thrive on motivation replace reserved ones who fail. When that act becomes tiresome, the bookish type who concentrates on the Xs and Os returns.
Tennis players are no exception. Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka, the most recent examples, squared off in Beijing on Tuesday at the year’s penultimate WTA 1000 competition.
Despite having great expectations going into the season, neither player lived up to them. Both Gauff and Osaka announced coaching changes following their early U.S. Open eliminations (Gauff lost in the fourth round, Osaka in the second).
Brad Gilbert, one of the most well-known figures in the sport, was fired by Gauff. Known as Winning Ugly, he is an ESPN analyst and the former coach of Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi. He has a grand unified theory of tennis. A little-known grip specialist named Matt Daly was then brought in by Gauff to work with Jean-Christophe Faurel, the obscure French coach who has worked
Faurel most recently rejoined Gauff’s entourage last spring, to work alongside Gilbert. Gilbert and Gauff barely knew each other when she hired him in the summer of 2023. Weeks later, she was U.S. Open champion.
Osaka, meanwhile, pivoted from Wim Fissette, the quiet, cerebral Belgian who helped her win two Grand Slam titles in 2020 and 2021. Fissette would be fine if he never appeared on television. Osaka’s new coach is Patrick Mouratoglou, the former coach of Serena Williams. He has a gift for motivation and self-promotion, with a brand empire that includes an academy in the south of France, plus the freewheeling Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) tennis exhibition events and coaching camps at luxury resorts.
For Osaka, he was almost too familiar. Mouratoglou wanted to stay away from Williams because of their past interactions and his participation in the game.
At a Beijing press conference, Osaka remarked, “His persona is so big.” So large that she doubted his teaching skills: anyone who coached the best female player of the modern era could have taken pride in helping Williams succeed.
