By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, June 21, 2022
The ATP will permit coaching from the stands starting the week of July 11th as part of a trial that includes the US Open and will span the second half of 2022.
Photo credit: Getty
ATP players will be armed with allies in the stands this summer.
Coaching is coming to the ATP starting next month in a trial that will last until the send of the season and include the 2022 US Open.
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The ATP announced it will permit coaching from designated seats at the stands starting from the week of July 11th, 2022 as part of a test that will span the second half of the season.
The trial includes the US Open and will run through to the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in Turin in November.
The ATP cites two primary reasons for the coaching trial:
1. Consistency across the sport: the WTA already permits coaching from the stands.
2. Enhancing tactical insight for fans with coaches signals and presumably comments included in live broadcasts.
Off-court coaching will be permitted under the following conditions:
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Coaches must sit in the tournament’s designated coach seats
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Coaching (verbal and non-verbal) is allowed only if it does not interrupt play or create any hindrance to the opponent
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Verbal coaching is permitted only when the player is at the same end of the court
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Non-verbal coaching (hand signals) is permitted at any time
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Verbal coaching may consist of a few words and/or short phrases (no conversations are permitted)
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Coaches may not speak to their player when the player leaves the court for any reason
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Penalties and fines will still apply for abuse or misuse of the above coaching conditions
Several stars, ranging from Rafael Nadal to Stefanos Tsitsipas, have supported allowing coaching from the stands pointing out it happens frequently on Tour already.
Last summer, 2021 Roland Garros runner-up Tsitsipas made his case in support of allowing coaching in a series of social media posts.
“Coaching on every point should be allowed in tennis,” Tsitsipas posted on Twitter. "The sport needs to embrace it. We’re probably one of the only global sports that doesn’t use coaching during the play."
So what happens after the ATP's coaching trial ends in November?
The Tour says "the trial will be collectively evaluated at the end of the 2022 season, to assess potential inclusion of off-court coaching in subsequent seasons."