On Court Coaching About to Die

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has suspended its on-court coaching experiment indefinitely, as it failed to pass a board of directors vote at Wimbledon. It’s due for a final vote at the Tour Championships in Doha in November. The player reps have voted, but the players themselves haven’t. It still has a chance of survival, but the veterans who have weighed in on the subject during the past week seem to be of two minds.
“It’s a little distracting when you have coaches walking on court and most of them are parents, that’s what I didn’t like about it,” Nadia Petrova said. “On the other hand it worked perfectly for me. I just started working with my coach and he would come on court and give me advice and it was perfect for developing my relationship. But now that it’s over it's fine. You spend so much time in practice analyzing with your coach that a match is a time when you have to do it yourself. You have to try to find a way to change tactics yourself. I think I’m going to vote against it. Many players just use as a safeguard because they don’t know what to do so their coach tells them. You have to use their head in matches.”
Daniela Hantuchova, who fell to Belarus’ Olga Govortsova and just returned after a major foot injury, used an on-court coach a lot and said it helped her.
“The last two tournaments it would have helped. Coming back it helps to have someone there giving you advice with a better perspective. If I am to vote, I would say yes.”

Source:

On one end its nice for the fans to see some different happening and we could see more comebacks than usual (Due to a confidence or strategy boost via the coach/Family member). On the other end Tennis is a mind game and it might take some of that element away from it. Im not shure what i think either keep it or ditch it. I guess it wouldn't bother me

Interview with Danka from Germany's Eurosport

Sorry for my bad englisch, I'll try to translate it as good as i can

Olympic Games 2008 - Hantuchova: I'm only playing Tennis due to the Olympic Games

Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova is preparing together with her Coach Angel Gimenez and her Hitting partner Albert Portas in Barcelona for the Olympic Games in Peking.

How do you prepare for the Olympic Games? What does it mean to you to compete at the Olympic Games?
Hantuchova: It's something special. Not only this season, it's something special in my whole career. I'm playing Tennis due do the Olympic Games. When i was a little girl, i watched Miroslav Mecir 1988 winning the Gold Medal. I was 5 years old and asked my parents to buy me a raquet.

How do you feel at the moment?
Hantuchova: I'm healthy, i passed my injury and now i have to find my rythm again. I'm trying to practise as much as i can. I'm very motivated and excited for playing Tournaments again. If i will have some time, i will definitly watch some Matches from Montréal, just to know which one is playing well and who's going to be favourite. I'm more mature than in Athens 2004. Then, everything was new for me and i got afraid of all the things. This time i will be more focussed.

Pierre de Coubertin, Member of the Olympic Games Committee, said, the live is a war and you have to fight constant without giving up. If it's going to be difficult, you must have the power to move on.
Hantuchova: Tennis is similar to the live in general. You have good and bad times. The Key is, to stay on track and recovering on the same time. If things are going well, it's great, but you have also to react on difficult moments. In competition, it doesn't matter if you feel good or bad, you have to fight. Coubertin also said, that the main thing is to compete at the Olympic Games. That's the sence.

How is it to handle the victories as a player and a person?
Hantuchova: As a sportswomen, you have to keep your personality. You can be vicorious and winning big titles while staying on the floor with 2 legs. On and off the court. Roger Federer is a great example. He's a great Champion, but respectful and wise at the same time.

How do you like the Sanchez-Casal Academy and Barcelona?
Hantuchova: It's a bless for my to work together with Angel Gimenez. I'm learning a lot from him and i respect his work and his intelligence. To be a part of the academy, where so many good players are practising is great. The City and the people are nice. I travel a lot, but i would love to spend more time here.

Coach Angel Gimenez about Hantuchova:
Daniela is ready for the Games. It's an important moment, something special. Daniela's way to work is very profesional and a good example for other players. These things makes a lot of things easier for me as a coach. She always cares for advices and is hungry to improve. These Days, every good player is intelligent. Daniela has studiet and you can feel that on her behaviour, how she reacts in some situations and how she handles them. She's a pro for 100%.



In Switzerlands Sports Show, they interviewed Stephanie Vogt (who's also preparing there). They also asked Danka a few things.

Miss Hantuchova, you did not play a lot the last weeks. Are you ready for Beijing?Hantuchova: I'm healthy and i'm ready for Beijing. It's a great thing for me to compete there and i hope i'll do well.

What do you think about the chances of Stephanie Vogt?
Hantuchova: Well, i think she's very talented. I saw her practising here and she has some great shots. It's nice she got a Wild Card and i think she has definitly the potential to reach some matches if she gets a good draw.

Who is your favourite to win the Olympic Games?
Hantuchova: Serena Williams will definitly be a tough competitor, she wants to win very much, since she lost the Wimbledon Final. She's always a Favourite for the big titles. Since Maria (Sharapova) pulled out, i think Ana (Ivanovic), Elena (Dementieva) and Dinara (Safina) also have a big chances. These Girls all made outstanding peformances this year.

i like the last answer from Angel

And lol about that ear piece story , it's maybe something for Yuri and you know who

Here's an interview with Daniela on page 3, but in Slovak:

Maybe some of the Slovak or Czech members could tell us if there ist something interesting or only the usual stuff.

And here a big (colored) poster of Daniela sailing on page 24:

It would be nice if someone could extract this picture from the PDF?

And also the Rybarikova and Tabakova pictures pls

Hantuchova Strikes A Pose


ROME, Italy - Daniela Hantuchova has been enjoying a career resurgence recently, spending most of the last 12 months inside the Top 10 after some stellar results, which include winning Indian Wells and Linz last year and reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open this year. The Slovak, who has always had a love for everything Italian, recently found time to feature in two of the country's mainstream publications, Panorama and Tennis Italiano.

Hantuchova, now 25, embodies "La Dolce Vida", which symbolizes the relaxed, enjoyable Italian lifestyle. In the off-season and lead-up to the spring clay court season she trains in Italy, making the most of the mild weather, food and welcoming fans. She also has many links with Rome: her physio, Marco Panichi, is from Rome; she supports Roma soccer and likes soccer player Francesco Totti; and she adores shopping in Cola de Rienzo and Via Condotti.

Hantuchova also lists her favorite dessert as crêpes with nutella, and of course nutella is a creation of the Italian company Ferrero; three of her four favorite fashion designers - namely Armani, Cavalli and Missoni - are all Italian; she likes cooking Pesto dishes; and she enjoys driving the moped.

The May 2008 edition of Panorama and the July 2008 edition of Tennis Italiano feature Hantuchova in photo shoots that took place on the famed Spanish steps area of Rome. Check out some photos from the shoots in the photo gallery.

Panorama is one of the two most prominent newsmagazines in Italy and is currently in its 47th year of publication, having been founded in 1962. Tennis Italiano is the most popular tennis magazine in Italy.

Hantuchova's next tournament is the Olympic Tennis Event in Beijing, where she will be one of two players representing Slovakia in the singles draw (alongside Dominika Cibulkova) and one half of her nation's doubles pairing (partnering Janette Husarova). It will be her second Olympics, having played in Athens in 2004, where she reached the second round of singles (falling to Patty Schnyder in three sets) but fell first round in doubles (with Husarova).

Visit Daniela's official website at .