By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, June 8, 2020
Tom Hill, who has coached Maria Sakkari to six Top 10 wins and the world No. 20 ranking, discusses positivity, patience and other keys to successful coaching.
Photo credit: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography
Pro tennis can sometimes sound like a construction project.
Players aim to build sounds points, structure seasons to peak at majors and cast a championships career.
Kyrgios: Coaching Pointless
Mouratoglou: Biggest Passion
The best coaches are architects providing their players with a blue print for each match—and the ability to adapt to each opponent.
Tom Hill, who has coached Maria Sakkari to six Top 10 wins and the world No. 20 ranking, asserts positivity and patience are prerequisites to successful coaching.
“I believe to be a good coach, it is essential to be calm, patient, positive and professional,” Hill told Tennis Now. “Coaching a player on tour is very different to giving lessons to a client. Coaches on tour are not just tennis coaches, they are coaches of everything.”
In his landmark book, How To Play Better Tennis, Hall of Famer Bill Tilden states elite champions are made not born.
“There is nothing mysterious about tennis,” Tilden wrote. “It is a game of sound, scientific principles that anyone with an average mind and body can learn to play well if he or she will take the trouble to work at it. The great champions are not born, but they are made by their own—and at times their coaches’—efforts.
"In the years I have played tennis, I have looked for a born tennis player, but I have yet to find one. The best I have been able to do is find a gifted athlete, but only long, hard work made the player.”
Hill’s tennis trip began in his native Great Britain before he moved to Bradenton, Florida at age 10 to attend the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. The son of a pro golfer played at Pepperdine before pursuing a coaching career.
The 25-year-old Hill has guided both Danielle Collins and Sakkari to the Top 50.
We caught up with Tom Hill, who has been spending the coronavirus shutdown at home in Birmingham, for this interview in which he discusses his tennis roots, his approach to coaching Sakkari and essential coaching advice he’s received.
Tennis Now: When you were playing junior tennis, which pro players did you watch? Which coaches influenced you? You trained at the Nick Bollettieri Academy. How did that environment shape the player and coach you became?
Tom Hill: As I got older, I obviously watched a lot of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal but when I first started playing tennis, I used to watch a lot of Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, Tommy Haas and David Nalbandian. I’ve had many coaches influence me, but Hugo Armando really stands out. I worked with him in 2012 and he really improved my game before I went to Pepperdine University.
The Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy was an incredible place to train. I was there from 2005 to 2009 and the competitive environment forced me to either improve or be left behind. There were many great junior players at the time and we all pushed each other to get better. The academy environment and structure enabled us to make tennis our main focus.
TN: Pancho Segura once told me one of the most important tips he imparted as a coach: “You must make your first serve on the 30-all point.” What's the best and worst coaching advice you've received or given?
Tom Hill: Over the years, I have received a lot of great advice. The best advice I was given was to “learn to differentiate practice vs competition”. On the practice court you can be a “perfectionist” and push yourself to improve weaknesses or to perfect the technique of a particular shot.
However, in competition, all that matters is the result. Competition should focus on strategy and using the tools that are working for you, on that specific day, to find a way to win. People remember results, not how well you hit your forehand in the match.
TN: What are the essential qualities for being a good coach? How much of your work is technical, tactical, psychological?
Tom Hill: I believe to be a good coach, it is essential to be calm, patient, positive and professional. Coaching a player on tour is very different to giving lessons to a client. Coaches on tour are not just tennis coaches, they are coaches of everything. Obviously, they have to understand their players strengths and weaknesses. They have to know how to make their player better. They have to know how to structure practices to allow improvement. They have to understand the tactical or strategic component of the game and many other tennis related things.
However on tour, they have to help their player psychologically to deal with the pressures and expectations that arise. They are definitely not “psychologists,” but they have to relate to their player and give them solutions to tennis related pressures. With all this in mind, the most crucial quality to have as a coach is chemistry with your player. You spend all day, every day together. If you don’t connect well, both on and off the court, it will never work.
TN: What is the most challenging part of your job? What is the most rewarding part of coaching in general and working with Maria in particular?
Tom Hill: Honestly, I love my job. I love working with Maria and doing everything I can to make her the best player she can be.
I guess you could say the main challenge is all the traveling and being away from friends and family for many weeks. However, I believe this is a job where you either commit 100 percent or none at all. I wanted to become a professional player myself but instead, I get to live my career through my players. When they win, I win and when they lose, I lose. One of the best things about working with Maria is that both of us never settle. We reach a goal and plan a new one. We are never content with our results or rankings.
TN: When I see you coach Maria on changeovers I like the fact you give her time to vent—if something is bothering her—yet you're very clear and precise in your game plan. How do you make the most of those 60 seconds and decide how much information to provide without overloading her with too much info? You seem to be able to keep it simple and direct.
Tom Hill: I always try to think about how the player is feeling. It is very easy for coaches or fans to watch and think, “Why isn’t the player doing this or that?”
I know first-hand that when you are the one playing on court, you see things a different way. Sometimes correctly but other times not. As a coach, I try to have Maria explain as quickly as she can, how she is feeling. It’s pointless me telling her to do something if she doesn’t feel that particular shot on the day. Once she has told me how she feels, I try to calmly give her strategic solutions to the problems she is facing.
It is important to note, like the previous coaching question, that sometimes an on-court coaching talk could be nothing about strategy or tennis related issues. It could be a psychological chat or even just a motivational pep talk. It is important for the coach to know their player and what talk will best help them win that match. Every match is different.
TN: Paul Annacone said some of the most meaningful coaching he did with Pete Sampras came off the court playing cards when they would bounce ideas back and forth. How does your communication with Maria work in terms of practice court and off court or are there times when you both intentionally leave tennis out of the conversation?
Tom Hill: As we spend so much time together, I believe it is important to know when to talk about tennis and when to talk about anything but tennis! Talking too much tennis can become tiring for both the player and the coach. I believe with Maria we have found a good balance.
TN: What is your life like during this coronavirus shutdown of the sport? Can you do any type of coaching or training?
Tom Hill: At the moment, I am still at home in Birmingham. I have been doing a lot of fitness but have been unable to get on a tennis court. I am just waiting until I can fly to Athens to get back to work with Maria.
TN: I read your interview with Courtney on WTA website last summer. You grew up playing with Kyrgios, Coric, Edmund, Tiafoe in juniors. What was Kyrgios like at that age? Did you know at that age those guys would all eventually be pros?
Tom Hill: It was definitely in a strong year group, I can name at least 25 players who have gone on to become top 100 players. I believe having so many top-quality players in a year group does help everyone become better, as you are forced to improve or be left behind.
I don’t think anybody knows at that age whether they would go on to become top professionals or not, but I will say that a few of these players were a level or two better than everyone else. When you played these guys, you were hoping they had a bad day and you had a great day! I can recall that Nick was serving just as big then as he does now!
TN: Lastly, can you share your best serving tip?
Tom Hill: There is no set way to serve and that is evident in all the different techniques you see today. However, one fundamental component that all these top servers have, is a consistent ball toss. If you can put the ball toss in the right place, you give yourself the best chance to hit a great serve.
Former ATP player and current WTA Gold Coach Tom Hill is the current coach of WTA world-ranked No. 20 Maria Sakkari of Greece, leading her to six Top 10 wins in 2019. The former Pepperdine University standout Hill previously coached Danielle Collins helping her break into the world Top 50 in 2018. When he was 10 years old, Hill moved from Great Britain to attend the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy (now IMG Academy) in Bradenton, Florida.