WEBVTT - The Sit-Down with Wim Fissette 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:05.320 Hello and welcome to the Sitdown. I'm Viv Christy from 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:08.360 Australian Tennis magazine and great to be joined by Matt 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:10.360 Trolope of oz open dot Com. 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:12.080 Hey Matt, Hi, Viv, how are you doing. 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:14.520 I'm great, Thank you Great to be joining you again. 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:17.040 Yeah, it's always good. Another episode of the sit Down 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.759 this week and we got the chance to chat to 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:23.000 one of the game's most esteemed coaches. Tell us what's 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:24.280 in store for listeners today. 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:27.320 We were lucky enough to talk to Wim Faset, who, 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:30.400 as you say, is a superstar of the coaching world. 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:34.240 He's coached the likes of Kim Kleister's, Victoria Azarenka, Simona 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:38.120 Hallop and Angelie Kerber and we caught up with Whim. 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:40.880 He talked about his current role, of course as coach 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:44.520 to Naomi Osaka, as well as other aspects of the game. 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:50.720 So let's hear what he has to say. Wim, thanks 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:52.960 for joining us on the sit Down. It's great to 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:54.920 have you here. I know it's very early on your 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.760 side of the world. We thought we'd start with talking 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:00.640 about your relationship with Naomi Osaka this year and what 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:03.160 you make of her comeback season so far. 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:07.200 Well, super happy. I was super happy to join Know 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:11.360 Me again in October. It's it's a really fun project 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:16.479 where the first part was already really great. We work 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:20.120 together from from nineteen until the end of or the 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:26.080 summer of twenty twenty two, so we had we had 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:28.360 good success, but still I felt there was a lot 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.600 more to achieve. Definitely, if you if we just look 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:36.600 at her, I think the potential to be a lot 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:38.840 better than she's ever been. I felt that that was 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:43.759 very clear. And to have this this check a second chance, yeah, 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.880 it made me really happy. But obviously see it was 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:53.200 a start from zero again after giving birth and actually 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:57.120 just starting a few months later, and that was definitely 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:03.360 very very challenging. And yeah, her first match was was 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:06.200 only six months after giving birth. That that was like 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:10.600 super early. But yeah, we we felt we all felt 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:12.840 she was she was ready to make a comeback. She 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.520 was already in a in a very good physical state, 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:20.320 and she was just very impatient to get to get 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:23.600 going again. And we are now a few months a 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:28.800 few months later, I think as a team we see 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.560 we're actually very happy with the progress with her development. 0:02:32.639 --> 0:02:37.240 We see a big improvements like week by week physically, 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:41.239 also on the court, I think she's she's really doing 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:46.440 better and better, like day by day. Obviously we haven't 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:50.520 had like the big success we were we were hoping for, 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:55.000 but we all believe that that is just a matter 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.160 of time. So we're we're just going to keep working 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:02.240 as we have been doing and we really feel that, yeah, 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:05.359 we're going to have a big success this year. 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:08.160 What's been the highlight of your first four months back 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:08.919 on tour together. 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.200 I think I mean, first of all, the best match 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:17.880 she played was the Switolina match in Miami. I think 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:23.760 there kind of everything came back together. That was definitely 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:27.000 also the way we wanted to play, and yeah, it 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:29.080 was really fun to watch her play, Like you know, 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.800 we saw already in practice how good she can play, 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.880 but they're kind of everything came together. So really pleased 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:41.240 with that. But just the journey itself is like is 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:44.200 like a highlight. So just to know where she started 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.720 in October and like where she is now, the way 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:52.320 she looks, I mean, she's physically stronger than she wasn't 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.520 in twenty two, even in twenty one, I think when 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:59.720 she won she won the Australian Open, So I think 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:01.800 the journey itself is for me the highlight. 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:05.800 As you mentioned earlier, you did work with Naomi several 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:08.720 years ago. What have you noticed is different this time around? 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:13.480 She is now, first of all, a super professional player 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:20.279 who is taking care of like every detail. I really 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:25.839 feel that she has the mindset now that this is 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:28.600 her chance to make the best out of herself and 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:34.359 to show the people are true potential and also for 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.760 her to find her true potential how good She wants 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:41.279 to know how good she possibly can be, and she's 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:47.760 willing to work super hard for that. And yeah, it's 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:54.200 it's a player who right now who's really very curious 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:59.159 about like lots of things how she can improve in 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:02.480 different ways and kind of exploring a lot of things 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:07.600 she's doing, Let's say current nutrition changed a lot, She's 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:13.480 doing a lot of yoga and different movement kind of training, 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:21.200 and yeah, just through different ways of training, exploring where 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:22.120 she can improve. 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.039 It's really interesting to hear talk about this whim because 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:26.560 I think one thing we also saw that was a 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.000 little different from Naomi was the fact she entered the 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:31.960 two fifty level tournament in Ruan in France, which is 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.240 a level of tournament. She doesn't tend to play that often. 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:37.200 We both work with Todd Woodbridge and chatted to him 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:39.320 about this, and he thought that this was a really 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:42.040 good thing that she did, that was incredibly important to 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:45.240 her career. And I wonder what the thinking was for 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:47.920 Naomi to enter a tournament like that, because of course 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.159 she can get wild cards anywhere, like she could have 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.720 played the still Card tournament the same week. So we're 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:54.880 just wondering what was going on there in terms of 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:56.120 that scheduling change for her. 0:05:56.560 --> 0:06:00.160 Yeah, well, first of all, when she came back and 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.520 in October when she started training again, one of her 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.240 clear goals in this next chapter in careers to do 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.599 better on the clay and on grass, and obviously for that, 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:13.839 we need to spend as much time as possible on 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:17.400 on on that surface, on those surfaces. And you know, 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.560 she also made the decision that she wanted to play 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:23.800 the Villagering Cup. She wanted to play, she wants to 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:30.719 play the Olympics, so really busy schedule, and we, yeah, 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.640 we still decided to play a tournament the week after 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:37.400 after the Villagini Cup did what she played in Japan, 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:40.960 and then, yeah, we thought it was a good idea 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:46.240 too to go to Roan where you she might have 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:48.880 maybe a little bit more chance to play more matches 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:55.560 that unfortunately didn't work out. But you know, like just 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:58.080 looking back, I think it was it was not easy 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:00.919 just going to Japan for the bill the Chinking Cup, 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:04.880 playing on hard, going to Ruan, have like a day 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:08.120 of preparation back on bag on clay, and it was 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:13.800 just it was just a difficult transition. But you know, like, yeah, 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:15.520 she was very clear that she wanted to play a 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:19.480 tournament on clay before we go to Madrid, and she 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:21.600 wants to spend as much as time as possible on 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:23.840 the clay, and we thought it was a good choice 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.040 and I think it wasn't the bad It wasn't a 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:29.480 bad choice, but at the end, with all the traveling, 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:31.320 it was a little bit more difficult than we thought. 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:34.920 And Mantini Trevison, she's obviously very very good on clay, 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:37.640 it's a tough draw. More generally, how are you and 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:40.720 how is Naomi feeling about her game on clay and 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:42.520 what do you think that she does well on this surface? 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.360 You know, it's it's a surface where she definitely can 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:49.360 play well, but she needs to spend time and she 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:53.600 needs to play matches. It's it's it's not the surface 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:59.400 where she's automatically feeling super confident like she's on the heart. Therefore, 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:03.880 I mean, she just hasn't played enough on that surface 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:08.640 the last three four years and also hasn't had the 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:13.760 success on that surface to be very confident. But at 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:16.119 the end, she she also grew up on the green 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.240 clay in Florida where she played a lot of hours. 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:24.240 So she's she's not she's not uncomfortable in her movement 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:28.320 and right now we see that she's she's playing a 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:32.920 high level on practice on where we play points. It's 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:36.079 it was a little bit more difficult, but I think 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:39.120 you know, she's a she's a super athlete, and that 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:41.760 that helps her on the clay. She has she has 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:47.600 the power two yeah too, to still be playing very 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:51.559 aggressive tennis on the clay and to to accelerate when 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:56.400 the ball has has no pace. She's she's always been 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:59.960 kind of a patient player. I mean, she's an aggressive player, 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:02.679 always has been a player that has been building more 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:06.040 of the rallies just instead of just going for the 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:09.559 winner on the first shot. So she has a good 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:11.960 kick surf on the second serf. So I think there's 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:14.880 a lot of parts in her game that we fit 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:19.600 really well on the clay. But it's it's definitely, yeah, 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:24.240 a work in progress for the next for the next weeks, 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.400 but also for the next years, you know, like her 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:32.440 comeback is planned for the next seven eight years. So 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.080 the more we can spend time on the clay, the 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:40.120 more we can learn and hopefully also have the success 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:42.880 that will only help her, like for the Olympic Games 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:45.320 this year, but also like for the next year. So 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:48.840 we're we see it as a big as a big 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:55.520 learning or I also feel that her game will just 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:59.839 develop more bye bye by playing on the clay. I 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.480 think her game will will develop in a way that 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:07.040 it will also help her on the hard courts better. 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:11.720 So I'm very excited about this part of the season. 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:16.120 And for sure, it's going to be very challenging because 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:18.560 you're going to play players like Travis Son who's just 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:21.640 like really good on clay, and they're just so comfortable 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.280 and they know exactly what to play on which ball. 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:27.920 But you know, it's we like challenges and we know, 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.760 like we know her potential. I've seen her play good 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.679 tennis on clay and I'm confident she'll be fine. 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.400 Just listening to you talk about her, it sounds like 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:40.680 that you're very excited with where she can go and 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:42.880 what more she can achieve. That you feel like there's 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:45.680 more to do. But I was wondering, where do you 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.480 take a player who's already won four Grand Slam titles, 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.600 has already been world number one, She's been the highest 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:53.800 paid female athlete in the world. She's kind of already 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:56.320 scaled the heights. What do you think is next for her? 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:00.960 Where can she go next? For her, it's just become 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:03.040 a better player and become a better athlete. I mean 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:06.800 it sounds, yeah, it sounds maybe weird that I say that, 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.600 but yeah, she has won her four Grand slams and 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:13.040 she played amazing tennis. But like coaching her, I feel 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.160 there's there's a lot more to do, and there's a 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:20.360 lot just looking at her. You know, of course, they're 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:24.040 they're really good players out there, like IgA and like Sablanca, 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:26.880 Rebecquina Coco, like, I mean, there are a lot of 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:31.959 good players out there, But just we look at her 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:35.040 data and we want to, let's say, have much better 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:37.960 data of her than we had in twenty two and 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:41.360 twenty one. That's our goal to see like how good 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:45.160 can she possibly be? And then I do feel that 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:48.680 if she if she keeps making steps forward, that that's 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:50.280 the result is going to be that she's going to 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:54.480 win more Grand Slam or that's I mean, that's at 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:56.640 least the goal, and that's where we as a team 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:00.600 really believe in. But the most importan and it's just 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:05.320 focus on her and yeah, showing her true potential. 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:09.800 We recently caught up with Brad Gilbert and he told 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:11.920 us that whether a coach is working with a player 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:15.480 on the ATP Tour or the WTA Tour, the coach 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.680 the focus is on simply helping that player get better, 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:22.320 but others say there's a different approach to working with 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:24.000 players on different tours. 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:28.640 What's your view, Well, I don't have the real ATP 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:32.640 experience doing my since I came on the tour in 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:36.719 two thousand and nine, I have been only coaching at WIT. 0:12:40.000 --> 0:12:43.360 I do feel like I agree more with Brad where 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:46.760 I feel like tennis is tennis and as a coach, 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:50.560 what do you do? You try to develop your player 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:54.520 and you know, like women and men, they're both playing tennis. 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:59.960 You know, like and technically it's kind of the same sport. 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:02.280 And then of course you try to analyze your opponents 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:06.400 and find the right strategy, so that's that's also kind 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:12.040 of the same. So I I don't think there's a 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:19.000 there's a really big difference, you know. I think just yeah, 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:24.200 coaching women, you know that it's it's let's say sometimes 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:28.200 it could be a little bit more emotional, and it's 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:32.360 it's it's how to it's it's also very important how 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:37.920 to prepare the player before before the matches, Like I 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:40.640 always felt that in my fifteen years on the tour. 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.959 That's like putting them or bring them to the court 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:47.080 with the right expectations, like what challenge is to expect 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.360 and just to be ready for everything. So they're they're 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:56.920 kind of let's say emotionally like very stable and and yeah, 0:13:57.200 --> 0:13:59.840 just just to to be ready for for all the 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:03.200 challenges that day. I think that's just maybe a little 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:05.760 bit more important than women's doone. As I would say, we. 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:08.600 Both came to know you in two thousand and nine 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:10.559 on the WTA tour when you were a coach to 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:13.560 KYM classes. She was making her comeback as a mother. 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:17.760 Are there specific requirements in coaching a player who is 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:18.280 also a. 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.880 Mom, I mean the coaching, the coaching is coaching. You know, 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:26.240 you tried to make your player a champion, that's a 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:31.320 ultimate goal, but obviously have you need understanding that that 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:35.600 it's probably a little bit different than coaching a twenty 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:41.640 year old like just traveling by herself. Right, So I 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:44.520 do feel now with Naomi, not much has changed. She 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:48.200 always had a good structure in her training and also 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:51.080 at the tournaments where we start early in the morning, 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.240 around eight or nine the latest, and then we just 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.920 do all the work together until around two or three, 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:01.920 and that's kind of how we've done it in the 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:03.800 past and kind of how we do it now, and 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:06.160 then she has she has the rest of the day 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:11.320 for her daughter, and you know, it's it's it's obviously 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:15.040 very important that the player has that's like, that's a 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:17.720 good structure. But with home it was that guy in 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:20.960 the past, and kind of with with Kim, we we 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.840 did it more or less the same training early in 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:27.160 the morning and the afternoon more off for the for 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:28.040 the family. 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:31.960 So hearing how you talk about coaching and preparing players, 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:34.280 one thing that you have a lot of experience doing 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:37.720 is coaching against Serena Williams. I just finished reading Ben 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:40.480 Rothenberg's book about Naomi Osaka, and there was a part 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:42.560 in it where he spoke to you about your success 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:45.680 coaching players to victories against her. I think he've worked 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:48.760 with six different players who have beaten Serena, which I 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:51.960 think actually might be a record for a coach. So 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:53.560 I wondered if you were maybe able to share with 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.480 us now that she's retired, what is the secret to 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:57.280 beating Serena? 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.800 You know, that's honestly, it's a great that are super 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:05.560 proud of that. You know, Serena, I mean obviously the 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.280 best player all time, the best female player all time, 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:16.320 so much respect for her. But yeah, I mean first 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:20.680 step was always making the player believe that there is 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:25.960 a chance to win. I think Serena definitely won a 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:31.000 lot of matches before the match started and making I 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:35.480 think making the player aware of like what was going 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:39.560 to happen even before the match would start. You know, say, 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:42.400 she likes to be a little bit late before the 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:44.600 start of the match, so she she she likes to 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:48.280 make you wait. There are a couple of other like 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.000 things she would she would do before the match to 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:54.840 really show her presence, and you know, I think just 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.200 going on the court and like being there for the 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:00.720 for the toss and seeing seeing readA on the other 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:07.360 side is not easy to to stay calm like. So 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:09.680 it's it's it's super important. That was the first step 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:13.639 to be really like okay, knowing understanding what's going to happen, 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:19.040 and then be fully prepared for that. And then yeah, tactically, 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:23.280 of course, I've beaten Serena with I think, yeah, six 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:26.439 different players, so all these players had kind of different 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:30.040 different weapons are and different strengths and weaknesses, so it's 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:35.240 always a little bit the yeah, a little bit personal. 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:41.760 But there were I mean, if I if I would 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:45.840 say like three things. It was obviously that she was 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.119 struggling a bit with with a low slide where she 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:50.040 has to move in the court and really getting under 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:54.040 the ball. That was like the match lost to let's 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:56.000 say Vinci. That was that was very clear that she 0:17:56.480 --> 0:18:01.240 that she was struggling with that balls at her body 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:05.320 like from the return and also from a defense position. 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:08.600 If you would let's say play the defense cross that 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:10.600 would be a lot more comfortable than if you were 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.199 able to play it like long at her at her 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:15.800 body that she has to like get more distance to 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:22.040 the ball, and I do feel in tight situations just 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:23.840 the fall and was letting her down just a little 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:26.840 bit more than then the back end. Like those I 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:32.879 think those three were, yeah, were very important. And just mentally, 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:38.720 she was winning so many matches so easy that like 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:46.280 if you would just stay mentally like believing that there 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.119 was always kind of a window where she was like 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:51.840 going down a bit bitter level and that was I 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.800 felt that was always the moment that, yeah, that you 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:59.600 needed to be ready for. And because she wont so 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:03.720 many that's just easily. She was also not too comfortable 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:05.639 when it would go to a five all or a 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:07.800 six all level because it was like she was not 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:12.200 experiencing that a lot. So yeah, I mean I would 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:14.440 say a lot of like all these things a little 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:19.280 bit together. But I think on the other hand, most 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.119 important you had to hope that she wasn't having like 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:27.520 her very very best day because at her best, like 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:31.560 you could have the best tactics doing those but I 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:35.280 don't know, ten years she was she was unbeatable, like 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:39.520 that's that's clear. She was far better than than all 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:41.480 the rest of the game. Whim. 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:44.520 You've had an amazing coaching career where you've coached multiple 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:48.440 players to Grand Slam titles or finals. Do you have 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:50.800 a sort of look back on tennis history and think 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.360 I would have loved to have coached that particular player. 0:19:56.119 --> 0:20:00.240 When I when I started my career in two dozen nine, 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:04.960 my dream is actually to coach or I thought the 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:08.600 highest possible I could achieve was to coach Maria Sharpova. 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:14.480 I think, yeah, she was, Yeah, she was such an 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:18.959 interesting player. She was also like an unbelievable good player. 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:23.240 But yeah, I felt like I would have been super 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.840 excited to coach her and to make her, like, yeah, 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:30.960 tried to make her a better player, and like especially 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:34.080 the last yeah five six years of her career. I 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:38.000 think that would have been like super interesting project for myself, 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:41.120 and I think I could have been a val valuable 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:44.560 coach for her. But yeah, that's you know, she had 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:47.840 other great she had really great coaches during her career, 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:50.480 and she always had like the best people around her. 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:54.239 And but yeah, like that was definitely a player that 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:56.080 I would have loved to coach. 0:20:56.119 --> 0:20:58.280 Here, Yeah, as tennis fans, I think we would have 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:01.399 loved to have seen that too. So on a personal level, 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:03.760 how do you balance your family life with your life 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:04.840 as a traveling coach. 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:08.760 I think I have a very understanding family. I think 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:15.159 that that's the first one. But my children kind of 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:17.639 grew up like they were born in the time that 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:21.640 I was doing this, so so I think my oldest son, 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:24.520 who's now eight, it was like two or three years 0:21:24.560 --> 0:21:27.440 ago where he actually asked me the question, like, hey, 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:32.480 my friend says his dad is home every night, so 0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:37.720 he kind of thought that, like when dad goes to work, 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:40.040 it's normal that he's gone for like three or four 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:42.200 weeks and then he's home maybe a week or two. 0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:46.640 So for them, it's kind of normal. They haven't experienced 0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:49.679 anything else, and I think that's that's helping us. I 0:21:49.720 --> 0:21:55.159 think some some coaches decide to stay home when when 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:58.840 the kids are very very young, and I think that 0:21:58.920 --> 0:22:00.560 makes it a little bit more different a girl. Then 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:03.320 let's say suddenly the kids are three and four years 0:22:03.359 --> 0:22:06.800 old and then suddenly the father starts traveling like four 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:08.760 or five weeks in a row. I think that's like 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:12.399 a big shock for the family. So we yeah, like 0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:17.200 we we we we have done it since since the 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:21.320 kids are born we're luckily my wife is at home, 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:24.199 so she she can take care of the kids and 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:27.520 bring them to school, pick them up, bring them to 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:32.679 the hobbies, bringing to the tennis, the football. So the kids, 0:22:32.800 --> 0:22:35.680 let's say, they're they're having they're having a wonderful time 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:38.680 even when I'm when I'm when I'm gone, when I'm traveling, 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:42.880 And every year we tried to do at least one 0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:46.080 trip together, and like recently we did the Indian Wells 0:22:46.119 --> 0:22:49.159 Miami trip, which they have done already a few times, 0:22:49.200 --> 0:22:52.000 and they're they're super happy to be there and have 0:22:52.040 --> 0:22:55.440 some have some sunshine after the cold winter in Belgium. 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:59.000 The most important spend spend time together and do lots 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:00.480 of fun activity together. 0:23:01.480 --> 0:23:03.720 It's been really clear from talking to you today just 0:23:03.760 --> 0:23:06.600 how passionate you are about coaching. That's really come through 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:09.040 in this chat. And I just wondered that, since you've 0:23:09.080 --> 0:23:11.280 done this for fifteen years and started back in two 0:23:11.280 --> 0:23:13.640 thousand and nine, what is it that you must love 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:17.240 about coaching and walk tim motivated to continue? Like do 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:18.720 you think it might be something you could still be 0:23:18.760 --> 0:23:20.480 doing in another fifteen years from now? 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:24.560 Yeah? And when I started, it was obviously not clear 0:23:25.960 --> 0:23:28.439 like how my career would go, and also if I 0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:31.240 would get a lot of chances to coach like good 0:23:31.280 --> 0:23:35.919 players on the tour. So I don't think I imagined 0:23:36.240 --> 0:23:38.720 in two thousand and nine that I was going to 0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:42.679 be here in twenty twenty four and coaching someone like 0:23:42.760 --> 0:23:47.320 Naomi Osaka, and I never dreamed about that. But I think, 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:52.359 like you said, everything starts with passion. And since the 0:23:52.400 --> 0:23:55.439 first time I picked up a tennis recket, tennis has 0:23:55.480 --> 0:24:00.080