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Mirra Andreeva became the archetypal female-coached Grand Slam singles champion since Garbine Muguruza won Wimbledon successful 2017 - some landing titles with Conchita Martinez
ByEmily Salley
BBC Sport journalist
The coaching container is 1 of the astir disposable places successful tennis.
Players often glimpse towards it aft each point. Television cameras cookware to it dozens of times during a match. Commentators walk clip trying to dissect the reactions of those wrong it.
But if you look closely, whether astatine regular circuit events oregon astatine Wimbledon successful the coming fortnight, you volition usually spot astir of the coaching unit wrong it are men.
Female coaches, adjacent astatine the apical of the women's game, are a rarity. Only 4 players wrong the apical 50 successful singles person a pistillate arsenic their superior coach.
Yet it was 1 of those players that walked distant with the French Open trophy this twelvemonth arsenic Conchita Martinez - a erstwhile Wimbledon victor - guided 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva to her archetypal Grand Slam title.
Numbers are increasing and a fistful of pistillate coaches are thriving astatine the precise apical of the game.
But successful a athletics similar tennis, which prides itself connected sex equality, wherefore are determination inactive truthful fewer full-time pistillate coaches, and what is being done to tackle the issue?
Dealing with 'egos' successful a changing landscape
When Andy Murray hired erstwhile satellite fig 1 Amelie Mauresmo arsenic his manager successful 2014, the determination was met with a wave of sexist backlash that shocked Murray.
Murray's concern with Mauresmo is 1 of the fewer examples of a pistillate manager moving astatine the apical of the men's game, but the scarcity of women successful coaching goes beyond the ATP Tour.
In 2017, women made up conscionable 6% of registered coaches connected the WTA Tour - the women's circuit. That fig has much than tripled since, rising to 19% successful 2026.
The perceptions that Murray experienced erstwhile helium appointed Mauresmo 12 years agone inactive exist, portion household commitments, a relentless calendar and changeless question each play a portion successful wherefore determination are not truthful galore women successful top-level coaching.
Sandra Zaniewska, the manager of satellite fig 13 and French Open semi-finalist Marta Kostyuk, believes the "landscape is changing" - but she has seen the barriers up close.
"Women, erstwhile they decorativeness playing, usually deliberation of starting a household and travelling less," says Zaniewska, a erstwhile subordinate who ne'er planned to spell into coaching.
"If I had children, I'm definite that I wouldn't beryllium travelling.
"It's wherefore I don't deliberation that it's ever going to beryllium 50-50 [the divided of male-female coaches] - but determination is abstraction and the scenery is changing."
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Zaniewska and Kostyuk person been moving unneurotic since 2023
Another origin is having a hitting spouse - a relation astir exclusively filled by men.
While the biggest stars often question with some a manager and a hitting partner, galore players connected circuit cannot spend to bring some to each event. As a result, they opt for a manager they judge tin capable some roles.
Given that women vie against different women, wherefore is simply a antheral hitting spouse considered essential? Perhaps it's not conscionable the other powerfulness and apical rotation connected their shots, but the assurance they exude.
"Sometimes we laughter that you tin person antheral hitting partners and their ego is truthful large - they travel and conscionable deliberation they cognize everything," Zaniewska, 34, said.
"When you're apical 100 oregon apical 50, truthful overmuch is astir the intelligence crippled and believing successful yourself and projecting confidence.
"On that level it helps, due to the fact that if you person a subordinate that does not consciousness that you're assured and [that] you judge successful them and yourself - due to the fact that it goes unneurotic - past they're going to consciousness it precise quick."
A precocious level of self-belief is thing Martinez has been capable to transportation to Andreeva.
"She understands maine much than anyone could," the Russian teen said 12 months earlier her triumph astatine Roland Garros.
"She's been done this. She's besides a woman. She's played truthful galore matches connected tour, she's truthful experienced. She's a Grand Slam champion."
Zaniewska believes pistillate coaches tin sometimes beryllium judged unfairly due to the fact that they explicit assurance differently.
"It's not that females are much insecure, I wouldn't accidental that," Zaniewska said.
"We conscionable deliberation more, truthful we're much conscious of things. We truly privation to marque definite that we fig it retired earlier we springiness proposal to someone.
"That tin represent a consciousness of insecurity sometimes."
'If you can't spot it, you can't beryllium it'
The deficiency of disposable pistillate coaches creates a rhythm that is hard to break, with Zaniewska believing immoderate women conscionable bash not spot it arsenic an option.
"Players are truthful utilized to having antheral coaches, and I deliberation it's mostly the players that don't see having a pistillate manager is simply a possibility," she said.
"If you're utilized to having a antheral manager and having a definite benignant of property oregon benignant of coaching, that is conscionable what you rotation on with.
"You don't adjacent deliberation determination could beryllium thing else."
Andreeva and Kostyuk are joined by Anna Kalinskaya and Caty McNally arsenic the lone top-50 players with women arsenic their superior coaches - though 2024 Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini, erstwhile French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and France's Diane Parry person women wrong their coaching set-up.
With players often overlooking chap women arsenic imaginable coaches, it leaves opportunities hard to travel by for those dreaming of a occupation astatine the apical of the sport.
Tennis fable Billie Jean King is simply a beardown advocator of the conception that "if you can't spot it, you can't beryllium it".
British manager Fran Jones - a namesake of the British fig four - recovered herself "pigeonholed" coaching under-14s without being alert of opportunities that existed beyond that level.
"You don't spot galore women [coaches] connected tour," Jones said. "You spot a batch of men with my playing level connected circuit arsenic coaches, but arsenic a pistillate astatine my playing level, they're not connected tour.
"It doesn't truly hap precise much, unless you've been a apical ex-pro.
"If you don't spot immoderate of the apical women players successful the satellite thriving successful that space, wherefore would you adjacent effort and measurement into it?"
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Andreeva, Kostyuk, Kalinskaya and McNally are the lone apical 50 WTA players with a pistillate arsenic their superior coach
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) introduced the Coach Inclusion Programme - an inaugural designed to make a clearer pathway for pistillate coaches - to tackle the practice problem.
Working with nationalist tennis federations, the programme develops coaches portion providing the connections and assurance needed to propulsion them forward.
When it launched successful 2021, determination were conscionable 4 accredited pistillate coaches with players successful the WTA's apical 200 singles rankings.
At this year's Indian Wells tournament, 34 of the 187 coaches were pistillate (18.2%).
"When you commencement coaching, you'll commencement with juniors successful the section club, and past you tin benignant of get stuck successful that satellite alternatively of really trying to propulsion yourself," explained Jaslyn Hewitt-Shehadie, who leads the programme's content.
Lauren English, who on with Jones graduated successful June, said the programme showed her the "stepping stones" needed and had fixed her "courage" to prosecute bigger opportunities.
Poland's Zaniewska, 34, has the position of a manager with a foothold astatine the apical of the game.
"Some pistillate players volition link amended with antheral coaches, and immoderate volition link amended with pistillate coaches," Zaniewska said.
"I don't privation to accidental that pistillate coaches would beryllium amended for females than antheral coaches, due to the fact that astatine the end, it's a property fit."
Ultimately, it is not astir proving pistillate coaches are better. It is astir making definite they person the accidental to vie for the aforesaid roles and scope the aforesaid level.
English (US)·