Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has criticized the ATP’s decision to test off-court coaching as he claimed that by doing so the sport “loses one of it’s unique traits that no other sport had.”On Tuesday, the ATP announced that they are set to follow in the WTA’s footsteps and will trial off-court coaching from the week commencing the 11th July – the week after Wimbledon has finished.
Players will be allowed to receive instructions in qualifying and main draw matches in tournaments – such as the US Open, with the trail period finishing at the conclusion of the ATP Tour finals in November.
Verbal and non-verbal coaching will be allowed as long as it does not interrupt a player or hinder the opponent.
In addition, Verbal coaching will only be allowed when the player is at the same end of the court as his coach.
Reacting to the news, world number 45 Nick Kyrgios said that he opposed the rule change as he believed the game had been stripped of a “unique trait.”
Krygios replied to a tweet by the current coach of Simona Halep, Patrick Mouratoglou which claimed that off-court coaching had been going on “at almost every match for decades” anyway.
The man from Canberra tweeted in response, “Completely disagree. Loses one of the only unique traits that no other sport had.
“The player had to figure out things on his own. That was the beauty of it.
“What happens if a high-profile player versus a low-ranked player who doesn’t have or [cannot] afford a coach?”
Completely disagree. Loses one of the only unique traits that no other sport had. The player had to figure out things on his own. That was the beauty of it. What happens if a high profile player versus a low ranked player who doesn’t have or afford a coach?
