Federer: Coaching Rule Not Cool

Roger Federer is a supreme shotmaker who relishes the tactical challenges tennis presents.The seven-time Wimbledon champion said he opposes on-court coaching and the US Open’s plan to play test coaching from the player box at next month’s US Open qualifying tournament.Watch: Federer Flies Into Fourth RoundThe US Open will also introduce a 25-second shot-clock during the US Open qualifying tournament this August, The Telegraph writer Simon Briggs reports.Federer says tennis is unique because the competitor is both player and coach on court and asserts allowing coaching will remove a cool quality from tennis.“I mean, I'm not all for it,” Federer told the media after sweeping Mischa Zverev to reach the Wimbledon fourth round for the 15th year. “I find it kind of cool that in tennis you're sort of on your own out there. Not everybody has the same amount of resources for coaching, as well. So I'm not sure if it's that beneficial.“But, you know, might be interesting for some people to see. I know that some parts of the world coaching at junior level and all that stuff is totally normal, that the coaches and the players speak.”

Federer said hand-signal coaching occurs now and noted tactical adjustments aren’t “rocket science” out there."I'm sure it's not going to make that much of a difference because I'm sure there's hand signs going on as we speak. It's not that difficult. It's not rocket science out there sometimes," Federer said. "We tell maybe play more to the backhand side. The guy is like… It doesn't take much to understand that message.”The US Open qualifying tournament will allow coaching at any time during a match except when the ball is in play.Coaches will be allowed to coach their players from the support box and talk to players when they’re at the same end and when players are at the opposite end of the court coaches will be permitted to use hand signals to coach.""I'm not really for it," Federer said of the coaching rule experiment. "The shot clock is an interesting one. But how do you judge, you know, when you finish after a dropshot, it's been a tough rally, the guy has to run back to the baseline?"Sometimes we need to have some leeway. But I do believe we should enforce the rule at some stage, somehow, because maybe too many players have gone over the limit. That's where we are now.I'm not sure if it's good, but give it a try, I guess."Photo credit: Ashley Western/CameraSport ]]>