4 tennis players who changed their coaches in 2024 ft. Holger Rune, Jessica Pegula
Coaches play a vital role in almost all sports. With on-court coaching now made legal in tennis, their importance in the sport has increased even further. Most top tennis players on the ATP and WTA Tours have benefitted from one or more of their coaches in their career.
In most of the cases, however, tennis coaches have a shelf life and players constantly opt for a change in their team should their career start going south. In some other cases, tennis players also opt for a coaching change in pursuit of significant growth.
In this article, we will take a look at four significant tennis players who changed their coaches in 2024.
#4 Dominic Thiem-Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh:
Thiem, a former US Open champion, has gone through a rough patch for the last few years. His ranking has plummeted as a result of a persistent wrist-injury that has kept him out of the ATP Tour for a prolonged period. Although he seems to have recovered from it, his performance has hardly been inspiring.
The Austrian decided to split with long-time coach Nicolas Massu in April 2023 and appointed Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh for the job.
Thiem parted ways with Ebrahimzadeh as well, after his first-round exit from the Australian Open 2024. He has not appointed a new coach yet.
#3 Maria Sakkari-Tom Hill:
Sakkari, the world No. 9 from Greece, split with her longtime coach Tom Hill last Thursday, February 15. Hill was Sakkari's coach for six long years. Hill's stint with Sakkari saw her reach a career-high ranking of World No. 3 as well as two and a half years inside the WTA top 10.
Sakkari is on a three-match losing streak at the moment, including her defeat to Linda Noskova at the Qatar Open this week.
The 28-year-old will aim to spend the next few years finding her way back to the top under her new coach, whose name is yet to be announced.
#2 Jessica Pegula-David Witt:
Jessica Pegula decided to sack her long-time coach Davit Witt after having been eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open 2024 last month. Pegula was ranked 76th in the world when Witt first joined her team. The American broke into the top 10 under Witt's mentorship.
Pegula is currently ranked fifth in the world and has also won four WTA singles titles so far. However, she has not had any luck with Grand Slam titles.
At 29-years-old, Pegula is potentially reaching the end of her physical prime and it may have something to do with her recent change in coaching staff.
#1 Holger Rune-Boris Becker:
Holger Rune has had his fair share of coaches for a 20-year-old youngster. The Dane is undoubtedly one of the most talented young players in the world and his decision to appoint six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker in October seemed to be a wise move.
However, the relationship was shortlived. Becker stepped down as the youngster's coach earlier this month, the exact reasons for which are still not very clear. Rune's mother, Aneke, who has been a staple of his management team from the very beginning, also stepped down as his press manager recently.
All the personnel change may have had an effect on Rune's recent on-court performances that have left a lot to be desired. There has been no official word on who will coach the Dane next.