American tennis star John Isner recently shared a disagreement with Stefanos Tsitsipas over coaching. Isner believes that the absence of active coaching during tennis matches differentiates the sport from others.
The Greek youngster recently sparked a debate in the tennis community when he shared his controversial take regarding on court coaching. Tsitsipas was handed a warning during the quarterfinals of the Hamburg European Open as he received coaching. The talented Greek shockingly lost to Serbian tennis star Filip Krajinović in the quarters. The World No. 4 took to Twitter to share his disagreement with the sport’s ban on coaching.
He wrote, “Coaching on every point should be allowed in tennis. The sport needs to embrace it. We’re probably one of the only global sports that doesn’t use coaching during the play. Make it legal. It’s about time the sport takes a big step forward.”
After the youngster’s comments, there were several opinions on the issue from fans, experts, journalists and even Nick Kyrgios shared his point of view. Even later American tennis star Isner also came up with his disagreement.
Isner pointed out how he is not a fan of on-court coaching despite playing college tennis where coaches are allowed to instruct their wards. He feels that the rule brings in a kind of uniqueness to the sport making it very cool.
“I think there is merit in what he (Stefanos Tsitsipas) is saying but I personally disagree with that,” the 36-year-old said in a press conference in Los Cabos. “And this is coming from someone who played four years of college and we had coaching every single point during our match.
“What I think is cool about tennis is you don’t have coaching and it’s a good differentiating factor from the other sports going one on one trying to figure it out by yourself which I think is unique,” he added. “So I don’t personally love the idea.”
Isner added more spice during the same press conference when he spoke about Naomi Osaka’s controversial media snub at the Roland Garros. While the American highlighted the importance of media to popularise the sport he did not want any trouble pointing fingers at the Japanese sensation.
“I think it’s important to talk to the media and to give back as much as possible and I don’t believe the media is our enemy but at the same time you have to respect everyone’s opinion,” Isner opined.
“I certainly don’t know what Naomi is going through and I am not going to judge at all, she’s a megastar and it’s not my right to agree or disagree,” he concluded.
