Coaches Corner: Stine’s ‘Backwards Progression’ To Propel Paul Forward | ATP Tour | Tennis

Tommy Paul has been one of many breakthrough stars of 2023. The American has clawed to the Australian Open semi-finals and the championship match in Acapulco, placing himself in sixth place within the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin forward of the Miami Open introduced by Itau.

Brad Stine, who has coached Paul since 2020, spoke to ATPTour.com about his cost’s progress, how they reshaped his recreation, what it can take to proceed his ascent and extra.

Last yr you stated one of many huge stuff you have been engaged on with Tommy was making an attempt to get him to maneuver ahead a bit of bit extra. How glad are you along with his progress?
I suppose after Tommy’s first match right here, he was interviewed on courtroom and he was requested what he and I is likely to be engaged on proper now and he stated, ‘Well, I’ll simply inform you that I by no means come to the online sufficient for Brad. No matter how a lot I are available, he would at all times want if I’d come in additional.’ I jokingly say each single match Tommy performs he may have come in additional than what he in all probability got here in. So I feel it continues to be a piece in progress.

That being stated, I feel Tommy’s identification as a participant has developed into what I’d describe, I feel a whole lot of guys on Tour would describe, as an aggressive all-court participant. I don’t know that I’d describe him as or that he can be described as an attacking participant. But he’s an all-court participant that may combine in serving and volleying, that may assault off the bottom and are available ahead and end on the internet. He does that sufficient to maintain his opponents off steadiness and never snug.

If they’re giving up any sort of brief balls or something that he can assault, then he’s going to place strain on them coming ahead. He can hold them off steadiness on his serve. Even in opposition to a number of the finest returners, he can hold them off steadiness with some serving and volleying. All that stuff I feel has positively improved and turn out to be sort of a staple of his recreation. He’s not Maxime Cressy. I wouldn’t anticipate him to be Maxime Cressy. But he’s coming ahead a good quantity for positive.

How a lot time did it take while you began with him for him to start out shopping for into that concept?
Since I began with Tommy, there have been totally different phases and progressions that we’ve gone via and we didn’t actually get to a significant concentrate on that till in all probability halfway via our second yr collectively after which we began focusing a bit of bit extra on the volley. I at all times suppose that making an attempt to get somebody to turn out to be extra of an attacking-style participant is a backwards development.

You have to assist them with the volley and get them to be a superb volleyer. Hopefully, doubtlessly, an excellent volleyer earlier than you may ask them to start out transitioning, attacking and coming ahead. If you do it the opposite means round they usually are available they usually don’t have very a lot success as a result of they’re not as snug with the volley itself they usually’re dropping a whole lot of factors, then they’re in all probability not going to need to proceed to return ahead.

We spent fairly a little bit of time simply centered on him engaged on volleys. That alone, him getting extra snug with the volley, the texture of the volley, the place he’s alleged to be within the courtroom. Those sort of issues translated to him coming in additional. Then we began speaking extra about transitioning, choices and performs that he could make to return ahead and attempt to get in. It took some time I’d say to get to the purpose. I wouldn’t say that both of us is essentially fully happy with the place he’s at. He can nonetheless do a greater job with a few of his transition performs. He can nonetheless do a greater job typically with the volleys and or his positioning and stuff like that. There’s at all times room for enchancment.

When Tommy’s been having the outcomes he’s been having recently, how a lot does that make it easier to along with his buy-in?
It’s clearly in his thoughts! We a minimum of know that he’s conscious of it or perhaps he’s a minimum of listening to one thing I’m saying. At the extent that these guys are competing at and taking part in in opposition to one of the best gamers on the earth, you undergo intervals the place it may be very troublesome to create alternatives to return ahead, particularly from the backcourt.

Off of groundstrokes guys hit the ball so huge these days and with a lot depth and penetration and weight on the ball with the racquet supplies and the strings and all the pieces, that typically it’s exhausting to get a ball to assault, in order that turns into very troublesome. That being stated, you may at all times serve and volley and you’ll at all times assault second serves. So that’s turn out to be a staple of Tommy’s recreation and I feel everyone seems to be conscious of that. The crush and rush.

In the olden days we used to speak about chip and cost, however guys with superb two-handed returns off each side, you may take the ball very early and take the ball up the road on the deuce facet or go cross or up the road off the advert facet and are available behind these balls. Tommy’s been very, very, superb and really profitable on that with a whole lot of guys, particularly on sooner exhausting courts, grass or indoors. Those performs are actually efficient performs.

With the teaching trial, do you want being able now to have mini conversations with him throughout matches?
I prefer it. I personally prefer it. I feel there are fascinating dynamics to it. I feel that there’s been quite a bit much less teaching than I feel folks would have anticipated. Overall, I feel that for us personally, only for us individually, Tommy and I, it took us a bit of little bit of time, a minimum of two or three matches after we first began doing it, to get it into a snug rhythm.

Tommy the primary couple occasions when he had it out there to him, as a result of I used to be overtly in a position to talk with him, he was utilizing the field a bit of bit extra in a approach to sort of vent his frustrations, which he didn’t usually do. But it was like, ‘Oh, that’s open now? I can go there?’ We truly needed to have a dialog like, ‘That’s not the aim of it.’ You nonetheless want to keep up your calm and focus on the courtroom.

One of the issues we talked about is Tommy wants to keep up extra of his eye focus throughout the traces of the courtroom like he usually would while you weren’t allowed to educate. He can keep that and nonetheless hear me. As lengthy as he’s listening to my voice and listening to what I’m saying to him, that’s effective.

Tommy’s made deep runs recently and his Pepperstone ATP Ranking is getting up there. What will it take to make the subsequent step to a Grand Slam closing, the Top 10, or no matter that is likely to be? Is it incremental enhancements on what you’ve been engaged on or one thing totally different?
It’s at all times small steps. I feel since we’ve began, Tommy’s made very constant progress. Obviously folks see Australia the place he made a semi. They suppose that’s sort of like oh Tommy Paul had a significant breakthrough and all these things, however for me it wasn’t actually a significant breakthrough.

Last yr I feel he made eight or 9 quarter-finals, fourth spherical at Wimbledon, he made quarters for the primary time at a Masters 1000. The yr earlier than that he received his first title. He hasn’t received a title once more — to me that’s a bit of bit disappointing. I feel that’s one other huge incremental step for him, whether or not it’s a 250 or 500, I’d wish to see him go deep in one among these [Masters 1000 events]. To realistically have an opportunity to maintain going deep constantly on the Slams, perhaps have an opportunity to make a closing or one thing like that, it’s worthwhile to be within the place that he was in Australia, taking part in somebody like Novak within the semis.

Getting via the matches like beating Taylor within the semis in Acapulco is an ideal coaching floor for him to organize for these sorts of matches on the Grand Slam stage. You must put your self in that place increasingly and increasingly typically so that you simply’re taking part in these guys. That’s one of many objectives. In order to do this, you’ve obtained to go deep constantly.

Last yr he was doing that, he performed a whole lot of prime guys as a result of he was making a minimum of quarter-finals. Hopefully he can take one other step or two farther this yr, which we now have already. Last yr it was like a working joke with us at some extent after you’ve gotten to love three quarters, 4 quarters, 5 quarters, you’re like okay quarters is our deal, we’re not making it farther than quarters.

I truly stated to him after he made the quarters, I feel he beat Rafa in Paris to make the quarters. I don’t even bear in mind who he performed within the quarters, I bear in mind he beat Rafa within the Round of 16. I got here into the warmup space afterwards and I used to be like, ‘Dude, should I just book our flights for tomorrow? Because you know we’re not going previous the quarter-finals.’ He was laughing, however then he loses within the quarter-finals and we’re like ‘Geez’. We have been joking, ‘This is going to be the year of the semi-finals’ after which he made the semis in Australia after which in Acapulco I truly stated to him, ‘You know what, let’s make it semis or higher, not simply semis.’

But it’s been a superb begin to the yr, that’s for positive. We’ll see the place it goes.