With the 2024 tennis season around the corner, some players have announced new additions to their teams, while others have teamed up with a new coach. These are the Top 3 news from the players’ corner.
Italian Matteo Berrettini and long-time coach Vincenzo Santopadre parted ways after 13 years of working together.
Last October, the 27-year-old from Rome shared through his Instagram account the news, adding a dedicated post to his former mentor.
“I arrived in your “tennis embrace” not yet knowing what I wanted to do of my life; you managed to make me dream far away while keeping my feet on the ground, day by day.”
“This is just a professional goodbye that probably increases our personal relationship.
“I’ve felt you on my side in every difficult moment faced in the last 13 years, and although there have been many hardships, I feel only joy thinking of me, and you. I am happy and grateful to the people who made us meet and proud of us for how we have exploited this gift granted to us.”
“Without you, there would have been Matteo Berrettini, but there wouldn’t have been The Hammer.”
Meanwhile, this week, Santopadre spoke to Corriere dello Sport about the split, addressing it as “a small shock, a small trauma.”
Further outlining: “The synergy between coach and player is similar to a couple relationship, as you spend more time together on the tour than with your family. It was a professional estrangement. Sometimes, one has to make certain decisions, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go to dinner together tomorrow.”
After a year in which multiple injuries cut short the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up season, Berrettini has shifted focus on making a fresh and healthy start to the 2024 season alongside experienced Francisco Roig, a former coach to 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal.
By mid-October, Dane star Holger Rune joined forces with former world number one Boris Becker on a trial basis.
With Becker, 55, in his corner, Rune reached the semifinals in Basel, moving through the quarterfinals in Paris, Bercy.
In Turin, he debuted at the Nitto ATP Finals, falling in the Group Stage to Jannik Sinner, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the final.
Last November, talking to the Danish press, mother and manager Aneke Rune confirmed the contract extension of the six-time Grand Slam champion for next season.
On Wednesday, the 20-year-old, who has been training in Monte-Carlo, announced Roger Federer’s former coach, Severin Luthi, as the latest addition to his team.
The German coach welcomed Luthi, sharing a picture of the team on X, writing: “I am very excited and honored that Seve has joined our team, Holger Rune! Tennis is maybe an individual sport, but it always takes a team effort to succeed.”
Frenchman Arthur Fils, whose impressive run at the Next Gen ATP Finals saw him progress to the thrilling championship match, losing to sixth seed Hamad Medjedovic after a monumental five-setter battle, will set off 2024 with a new coach line-up, featuring Sebastian Grosjean and two-time Roland Garros winner Sergi Bruguera.
Grosjean left the position of captain of the French Davis team to coach Fils.
In a statement released by the French Tennis Federation (FFT), he said: “It is with great emotion but also great excitement that I am preparing to open this new chapter alongside Arthur Fils.”
Adding: “Arthur is an exceptional player with immense potential, and I am confident our collaboration will be fruitful. I have warm thoughts for the players and staff of the France team, with whom I had the pleasure of living unforgettable moments, and to whom I wish all the success they deserve in competition.”
For his part, Gilles Moretton, president of the FFT, remarked: “We wish him all the best in this new stage of his career. Arthur Fils is at a turning point in his young career, and his career path is a model for all young French graduates who aspire to become professionals.
“By surrounding himself with someone like Sebastien Grosjean, Arthur Fils is betting on a former champion who will be able to put his experience at the service of his potential.”
The 19-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2023, capturing his first ATP title in Lyon as a wild card.
In addition, he reached the final in Antwerp, Belgium, and the last four in Montpellier, Marseille, and Hamburg.
Moreover, he went from World No. 251 in singles by early January to breaking into the Top 30, achieving a career-high ranking of No. 36.
