ATP’s recent rule change has left Patrick Mouratoglou and Nick Kyrgios up in splits. The ATP recently announced a new regulation change wherein the ATP has decided to allow off-court coaching on a trial basis from the latter half of the 2022 season.
This rule change won’t affect the Wimbledon Championship, however, this rule would be applicable to the US Open. At the end of the year, the ATP would be evaluating the effectiveness of this rule change and would decide if this rule would be feasible enough to be implemented on a long-term basis in tennis.
This decision of the ATP has left the tennis fraternity polarised.
On one side there is the argument that the main essence of tennis was that the sport was spontaneous and the players had to think on their feet and make decisions accordingly, and with the adoption of the new rule the sport would move towards being more of a team game such as football rather than an individual players game.
On the other hand, people have been commending this decision by saying that off-court coaching has been going on for decades and just by giving certain advice, the outcome of the match will not have a huge impact.
Congratulations to the ATP for “legalizing” a practice that has been going on at almost every match for decades. No more hypocrisy. https://t.co/OVwgtwLLrW
— Patrick Mouratoglou (@pmouratoglou) June 22, 2022
Nick Krygios has been the one to criticise the decision and Patrick Mourtaglou has supported the decision.
Nick Kyrgios slams ATP’s decision of allowing off-court coaching
Nick Kyrgios has always been an outspoken athlete and he considers the recent actions of ATP violative of the true spirit of the game of tennis.
Completely disagree. Loses one of the only unique traits that no other sport had. The player had to figure out things on his own. That was the beauty of it. What happens if a high profile player versus a low ranked player who doesn’t have or afford a coach?
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) June 22, 2022
He thinks that off-court coaching will take away the true beauty of the game. Patrick Mouratoglou who has coached the likes of Simona Halep and Serena Williams claims that off-court coaching has been going on for a long time anyway and this decision would not have a major impact. Patrick in a tweet said,
“Congratulations to the ATP for “legalizing” a practice that has been going on at almost every match for decades. No more hypocrisy.”
Replying to Patrick, Nick stated,