On Wednesday, a Danish newspaper, Ekstra Bladet broke the news that the world number 11, Caroline Wozniacki had axed her new coach of just three months, Thomas Hogstedt. This decision came after just two tournaments working together in Australia. Here are some of my initial thoughts about the shock decision and Wozniacki’s continuing coaching conundrum.
Caroline Wozniacki
- WHHHHAAAAATTTTTT?!
- It really was a puzzling piece of news regarding Wozniacki because it’s not like this is a one-off event. During the 2011 off-season, Wozniacki hired Jelena Jankovic‘s former coach, Ricardo Sanchez. I remember watching a video of Wozniacki with Sanchez (originally posted on Women’s Tennis Blog here) practising forehands and thinking things were looking really positive for her. However a month later, she lost at the quarter-final stage of the Australian Open to an injured, Kim Clijsters and Sanchez was gone soon after. She also had an unsuccessful spell with Thomas Johansson in 2012 and Caroline has seemed unable to fix down a permanent and satisfying coaching relationship.
- It has been reported that whilst Wozniacki trained in Dubai, Hogstedt decided to take a holiday. This was apparently the final straw as the pair had failed to gel in their coaching partnership. It is difficult to get deeply involved with speculating why they split up because we’ll never know the full truth even if Caroline discusses it in press. I hope it is the truth though because there have been enough reports over the years of Piotr sticking his nose in. Ricardo Sanchez reportedly said he wasn’t allowed to fully implement his desired techniques as Caroline’s coach.
- I think I was most surprised because I thought the Hogstedt-Wozniacki partnership had the potential to be great. It was difficult for her to gain any momentum in Australia having pulled out of Brisbane with a shoulder injury. She lost to Lucie Safarova in Sydney, who played a brilliant second round match and then was defeated by the in-form, Garbine Muguruza in the third round of the Australian Open. Against Muguruza, Wozniacki did get overpowered and the third set just went away from her too quickly. I didn’t think it was a big loss really; Muguruza was playing some great tennis and Wozniacki had very few matches in Australia and she has always been a player that needs lots of matches to be at her best.
- It has now been reported that Wozniacki has teamed up with Michael Mortensen (ARTICLE HERE). Mortensen helped guide Li Na to her first Grand Slam title in Paris in 2011. If this is true, then I will be relieved to see her not go back to Piotr as the head coach. There have been so many examples of WTA players moving away from their father as a full-time coach, which has seen a positive impact on their tennis. Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Marion Bartoli are the ones that really spring to mind and I do believe it will help Wozniacki in the long run.
- I get the feeling the Wozniacki’s react too quickly to losses and expect results to come immediately, which is a big issue. If Wozniacki is going to become more aggressive or at least find a more positive balance between defence and attack, it needs time and patience. I really hope that if Mortensen is the new coach, he is given both the time and space to work with Wozniacki because I do believe she still has plenty to offer and at her best, is easily a top ten player.
Moo's Tennis Blog 