The word “supercoach” is on everyone’s lips again in the tennis scene: Boris Becker, who is flying in on Tuesday for a short visit to the Vienna Stadthallen tournament, has announced his commitment to the Dane Holger Rune.
The German legend had also worked successfully with Novak Djokovic for several years. Herwig Straka, Dominic Thiem’s ex-manager and tournament boss in Vienna, generally believes that “super coaches” are an asset. If it is wanted.
Holger Rune as the best example
Additional help from outside would also be a possible approach for Dominic Thiem, who was in roughly the same world ranking position in Vienna a year ago as in the current live ranking (97th).
“In general. I believe that a super coach is good for every player and certainly for him too. Especially in a situation like this,” believes Straka when asked by the APA.
“Rune is the best example, he hasn’t won much for six months. These are exactly the situations where you need a super coach and in this respect I think a super coach would be good for Dominic too.”
Red Bull Bassline: Pictures from the kickoff of the Erste Bank Open
Even Roger Federer benefited from Supercoach
However, such a project failed for Thiem at the beginning of 2020 when he ended his collaboration with Thomas Muster after a few weeks – and stormed into the Melbourne final shortly afterwards.
“The pattern didn’t work, but you have to accept that,” remembers Straka, who helped initiate it at the time. “I spoke to Boris (Becker, note) on the phone. I said I wish you good luck, but I hope that Rune also accepts you, because I saw that with Dominic. If you don’t accept it, then bring it “It’s nothing.”
However, for Straka, there are more positive examples of such partnerships between current and former stars. “I know it from Roger Federer. I spoke to him umpteen times about Stefan Edberg, he was actually the first super coach.”
Federer told him that he got a lot from this collaboration. “Edberg told Roger to take the ball a meter earlier,” says Straka. At the beginning, Federer thought that was impossible.
Thiem is still an exceptional talent for Straka
“But you have to accept that as a player. If Dominic thinks a super coach is important now, then it can work.” It should hardly fail because of the money, Straka also sees it that way.
“I don’t need to worry about the money that hasn’t been earned in the last two or three years due to a lack of income. Very few people in life have it that easy to get back with a little investment,” believes Straka.
How does the tournament boss of the Erste Bank Open see Thiem’s performance? “The problem is that there is no main reason. There are many reasons. I firmly believe that once the engine starts running again, he can win again.”
He doesn’t see a major change in Thiem’s playing style, even after coach Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh took over. “That’s definitely what it would take.”
Straka is by no means ignoring Thiem’s years-long fight to return to the top. “It hurts me extremely, I feel sorry for him, it’s a very, very shame. A lot has happened. We’ll leave out whoever is to blame or why. He’s a great person. He was and is an exceptional talent still.”
2023-10-22 11:40:30
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