Few partnerships shine through amidst constant coaching changes

The game of coaching musical chairs may have hit its peak over the past 12 months. Last week, Grigor Dimitrov—who had been coached by Roger Rasheed, the former coach of Gael Monfils—announced that he would begin working with Franco Davin, Juan Martin del Potro’s former coach. Garbine Muguruza just hired Sam Sumyk, who previously guided Victoria Azarenka to two Grand Slam titles and also recently stopped working with Eugenie Bouchard—who had moved on from Nick Saviano after her breakthrough 2014 season. Saviano, it should be said, was promptly scooped up by Sloane Stephens. And we can’t forget Wim Fissette, who coached Simona Halep in 2014 but is now with Azarenka.

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But amidst all the firings and hirings are some winning partnerships. One of the most successful has been Serena Williams and Patrick Mouratoglou. Serena hired Mouratoglou in 2012 after a shocking first-round loss at the French Open. Williams has won eight of 14 Grand Slams since then. The respect that Mouratoglou has for his star player is impossible to miss.

“I know there are things that come to her mind,” Mouratoglou told Sports Illustrated earlier this year. “And when they do, they make her incredible. There are things you can and can’t explain.”

What makes Williams and Mouratoglou such a potent team may be difficult for anyone outside their circle to define, but other success stories have simpler explanations. Craig Kardon is another esteemed coach with a wealth of experience; he’s worked with Martina Navratilova, Mary Pierce, Lindsay Davenport, Ana Ivanovic and John Isner. His latest stint is with CoCo Vandeweghe, which began at this year’s French Open.

“You never know how the coaching relationship with a player will go in the beginning,” Kardon says. “It’s not only just your tennis, but you’ve got to be with that person on the road. You have to get along.”

Kardon and Vandeweghe have been on the road since the very beginning, going from country to county and tournament to tournament. The American has had an up and down year, but at Wimbledon she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal and hit a career-high ranking of No. 32.

“It’s like a relationship,” Vandeweghe says. “You travel together all of the time. You eat meals together a lot. You go through hard times, you go through good times. You have to have a good personality that meshes together on and off the court. But also you have to have a respect factor from both sides.”

Kardon’s philosophy to a successful relationship also hinges on respect.

“You’re there to kind of guide them, but also discipline,” he says. “It’s a trust issue. They have to trust you and respect you; otherwise it doesn’t work.”

Other coaches have different philosophies on what makes a successful team. Michael Joyce, who coached Maria Sharapova from 2004 to 2011, believes that working with a player in his or her formative years can help lead to long-term success.

Joyce started working with Sharapova when she was just 17, and the Russian won her first two Grand Slam titles with him in her coaching box. For the past few years, Joyce has been paired up with Jessica Pegula, a 21-year-old American who just won her first main-draw match at a major at this year’s U.S. Open.

“Maria was so young when we started,” Joyce says. “I like working with them when they’re young because they can still improve a lot. Some of the players that are already at the top, you’re just kind of trying to maintain what they have. But when you have somebody young, you can still improve a lot and get better.”

A constant among most successful player-coach relationships is stability, which gets back to that dramatic but potentially damaging game of musical chairs. Despite reaching three Grand Slam semifinals in 2014, Bouchard decided to split with Saviano in the offseason. The result has been near catastrophic, with the Canadian tumbling from the Top 5 to her current place at No. 36. It’s hard to think that leaving Saviano wasn’t a significant reason why. (Stephens, meanwhile, has seen a slight lift in her game this year with Saviano in her corner).

“It’s gotten worse in the last 10, 15 years,” Kardon says of the constant coaching changes. “Once you get a routine and established pattern that works you’ve got to stick to it through thick and thin, through the highs and the lows, because long-term has always worked better for the best players.”

A quick glance at the game’s best players and their coaches supports Kardon’s theory. World No. 1 Williams and Mouratoglou just completed their fourth year together. Novak Djokovic (who works with Boris Becker), Roger Federer (Stefan Edberg), Kei Nishikori (Michael Chang), and Milos Raonic (Ivan Ljubicic) have stuck with their legendary coaches and proved that they are more than just a novelty. Lucie Safarova (Rob Steckley) and Petra Kvitova (David Kotyza) have remained in the Top 10 as they have stayed with their coaches for extended periods of time.

But these examples tend to be the exception, rather than the rule. Kardon, for one, expects the unfortunate game of musical chairs to continue.

“Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, I’m not winning, you’re fired.'" he says. “Or, ‘I don’t want to work with this player anymore. They’re not listening to me.’ It’s a lot more work, a lot more patience.”