All-star coaching lineup comes with men's semis at Open
NEW YORK – By the look of Saturday's U.S. Open men's semifinals, there is something to 2014's big-name coaching bonanza after all.
When No. 1 Novak Djokovic takes on 10th-seeded Kei Nishikori and No. 2 seed Roger Federer faces off against No. 14 seed Marin Cilic, a Mount Rushmore of tennis visages will be looking down from their boxes.
A season in which Djokovic brought in Boris Becker, Nishikori hired Michael Chang, Federer tapped Stefan Edberg and Cilic enlisted Goran Ivanisevic now finds all four with an important presence as the Grand Slam season heads to a close.
(Should the need for a legends exhibition suddenly crop up, they would be useful as well.)
None were earnestly looking to re-enter the game they once dominated. But following Andy Murray's successful run with Ivan Lendl, a collective light bulb went off.
Lendl and Murray parted ways this spring, but not before the former No. 1 guided Murray to a U.S. Open and Wimbledon title.
Some fits are easy to see. Edberg's comportment, flowing game and European sensibility mesh well with Federer. Chinese-American Chang relied on quick feet and mental toughness when he climbed to the No. 2 ranking, the same skill set employed by Japan's Nishikori.
"I think it's easier with someone like Kei because the styles we play aren't opposite," said Chang. "I haven't had an issue telling him something strategically."
Despite different vocational and personal paths since retiring, they have made a smooth transition to the coaching ranks.
And they know each other well, at least as players. They competed at the same time and amassed 14 majors -- six each for Becker and Edberg, and one apiece for Ivanisevic and Chang.
More important, all four seem to be having an impact in their new roles.
Under Chang, 24-year-old Nishikori is in his first Grand Slam semifinal after battling past Milos Raonic and reigning Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka in five sets.
Following a subpar 2013, five-time U.S. Open titlist Federer is in the semifinals for the first time in three years by employing some of the same net-charging tactics co-coach Edberg gracefully performed to win back-to-back U.S. Open titles in 1991-92.
Six-time major winner Becker has Djokovic, 27, back at No. 1 after the Serb held off Federer to win his second Wimbledon title and seventh major overall in July.
And Cilic is in his second Grand Slam semifinal with the help of Ivanisevic. The 25-year-old Croat struggled with his confidence and fell outside the top 35 after a four-month suspension for a doping violation last year but has reclaimed the dangerous form he showed when he reached the 2010 Australian Open semifinals.
'When you see the change in his game and what you work (on) is paying off, that is a victory for me," said Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion. "Then it is fun to be coach."
What is not so fun, all four men have said, is feeling helpless in the player box watching their charges compete.
"It's easier to play," said the temperamental Ivanisevic, who sent more than a few rackets to the scrap heap in his day. "When you're frustrated you scream, yell, throw the racket. As a coach you have to sit there, be quiet, be positive."
Whether star power really matters when it comes to coaching is open to debate.
But according to Chang, the messenger is material.
After drubbing Chang in an exhibition, Lendl, then the top-ranked player, was sharing a limousine back to the hotel when he turned and asked the newly minted pro if he wanted an explanation for why he lost. Chang was thrilled. Lendl then bluntly broke down his game.
"He goes, you're not the biggest guy out there," recalled Chang in an interview Friday, who was 16 at the time. "You have no serve. Your second serve is just popping it in. You've got nothing you can hurt me with and you've got no power. He said, you'd better work on these things because otherwise the tour is not going to treat you very nice."
Chang took it to heart. He began shoring up his weaknesses. The next year, Chang became the youngest Grand Slam champion when he upended Lendl on the way to his only Grand Slam title at the 1989 French Open.
"It probably did backfire a little bit," laughed Chang.