“This isn't some little tweak, I think it is almost immoral; I think that was great of him to say” - Jon Wertheim agrees with Taylor Fritz’s views on off-court coaching
Sports journalist Jon Wertheim has thrown his support behind Taylor Fritz regarding his comments on the ATP's decision to allow off-court coaching for the second half of the season.
Earlier this year, the governing body of men's tennis announced that they were going to allow off-court coaching on a trial basis for the remainder of the 2022 season. The coaches, however, do not have a free rein in communicating with their players during matches as there are a certain set of conditions for them to follow. The change came into place in the week starting July 11 and will run through the US Open until the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin in November.
Speaking at a post-match press conference at the Cincinnati Open, Fritz touched upon the topic and stated his displeasure at the tweak in the rules.
“[It is a dumb rule] Because tennis is an individual sport. Why are we making it not an individual sport? A huge part of tennis is, in my mind, like as tennis is as much mental as it is physical, and a big part of it is you need to be figuring it out on the court for yourself. You need to be the one figuring it out,” Taylor Fritz said.
Speaking to Tennis Channel on Monday, Jon Wertheim stated that he agreed with Fritz’s views.
“I think most coaches disagree [with Taylor Fritz’s words], but you will notice that Fritz did not get a lot of blowback for that. Nor should he have. I think that was great of him to say. This is absolutely a fundamental distortion of tennis,” he said.
The 51-year-old believes that the authorities in charge are meddling with the fundamental rules of the sport.
“This isn't some little tweak that ‘hey we can try no towels or we can try to have automated line calling,’ this is really fundamental to tennis. To just sort of slip it in and say we're going to trial this, I think it is almost immoral,” he said.
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He also believes that it benefits the wealthier players massively, which will further increase the chasm between the top-level players and the rest of the field.
“I also think it really benefits the wealthier players. There are a lot of players that can't afford coaching, that can't afford top-level coaching. I think the competitive balance that already favors the top players is going to be skewed even more,” he said.
“They don't allow hands in soccer. Well, you know what? That's fundamental to soccer, you don't just slip it in because other sports happen to do it. I am on Team Fritz and I have not heard a lot of blowback, a lot of opposition to what Taylor very courageously said,” he added.
“I certainly don't like the rule, I don't prefer it” - Chanda Rubin also supports Taylor Fritz’s views on off-court coaching
Speaking on the same segment of Tennis Channel, former American top-10 player Chanda Rubin said that she fully agreed with Taylor Fritz’s comments on off-court coaching.
“It's, you know, the individual player out there for themselves trying to figure it out and that's the part I think that so many of us appreciate about the game. I certainly don't like the rule, I don't prefer it. It's been an effect on the women's side for quite a while,” she said.
“I don't think this makes it more fair per se to John's point. Not every player can have a team of coaches out there helping them. So that part isn't isn't quite fair. So, yeah, I think that's part of why they're doing it, but it's just a search. They’re trying to figure out what's the best option and I don't think we've come to that yet,” she added.