DC insights & an (Uber) race against time
Last time we ended the blog right before Davis Cup week. In this entry we’ll get into some Davis Cup insights from the sideline, a phenomenal “Serve & Story” episode, and, if you’re a true reader, a little personal paragraph to close things out. So you see, some interesting things ahead of us. I hope you’re as excited as I am.
To start the month of February, one of the highlights of the tennis calendar appeared: the Davis Cup, nation against nation. Although the new format has changed a bit of its original flair, it’s still pretty cool to have a team competition within what is otherwise a very individual sport.
You might be wondering what my coaching actually looks like during a week like this—when there’s a full team around the player, a captain, a co-captain and an entire delegation involved. Well… to be honest with you: there’s barely any. In this case, most of it happens from the ski slopes (and occasionally from the après-ski).
I purposely decide to step back during Davis Cup week. On the one hand, it’s the perfect window for a planned holiday—which is usually rare. But more importantly, I see real value in occasionally “handing over” the player. Different voices, different words, and the chance for him to compete without my face sitting courtside. That distance often brings a fresh energy once we start working together again.
Of course, in the lead-up to the week there’s plenty of communication with the captain, Severin Lüthi, as well as with the co-captain, Michael Lammer. It’s helpful if the general approach is aligned and we’re roughly pulling in the same direction. Once the week begins though, my role becomes fairly passive. I receive regular updates and stay reachable in case something comes up. Other than that, I spent most of my time attempting to copy the giant-slalom turns of Marco Odermatt - with mixed success.
After a Davis Cup week, coaches often say the same thing: when you meet your player again, the energy feels slightly different from the one you “handed over.” Representing your country brings a lot of emotions and impressions in a short period of time. Those things take a moment to settle. In these phases, our goal - this time together with our second coach Thiemo -is to gradually return to a sense of normality while bringing some of the positive energy from that week back into our daily work.
Far away from that sense of reality was our travel to the Challenger event in Pau the week after Davis Cup. But more on that in the second episode of “Serve & Story”.
The two following weeks brought two Challengers in France. Some good matches and some very tough opponents. It’s not always easy to find rhythm when you’re playing well but the opponent is simply better that day.
However, what was really cool was that Thiemo joined the tournament during the first week in Pau. It was the first time since the US Open that the three of us were reunited at a tournament. Once again, I can’t emphasize enough how much I learned during those days with him in terms of soft-skill coaching: how to communicate, how to approach conversations, and how to coach the human first and the sport second.
One of the other highlights - at least in hindsight - of that week ended up in this month’s Serve & Story.
After arriving at Bordeaux airport, the three of us still had a two-hour drive ahead of us. Leandro ordered a regular Uber because it was much cheaper, although with our three big suitcases it was a bit of a gamble whether we would even fit. Well, our hero arrived with his electric car, somehow managed to squeeze everything into the trunk, and off we went.
About an hour into the drive, I suddenly started to feel a bit sick while scrolling on my phone. After a moment I realized why. The car kept slightly accelerating and braking on the highway. Take a guess why…Turns out he was low on battery and trying to recharge by braking. When we noticed he had 50 km of battery left with 45 km still to go, he asked us - slightly stressed, where the next charging station was. The problem: there wasn’t one until about two kilometres before our final destination.
Long story short, as the remaining kilometres slowly decreased, his stress level increased in parallel. With 0 km left, his stress level reached its peak. When we tried to point him toward the charging station on the right side, he came to a complete stop in the middle of a roundabout and asked: “Içi?” Well… probably not exactly “içi”. Anyway, we somehow managed to reach the charging station about 100 meters away and a few minutes later made it safely to the hotel.
That’s about it for this month. Insights, side stories and a few impressions along the way. Now to the more personal topic I mentioned earlier. First of all, if you’re still here reading—wow, you’re a real one.
You may have noticed that this entry came extremely late. That’s because I haven’t been feeling so good lately. I can’t say exactly why, but I felt uninspired, low on energy, and caught myself constantly procrastinating on things.
The fact that I felt this way while traveling the world and living such a privileged life somehow made me feel guilty as well, creating a bit of a downward spiral.
I kept reminding myself that it’s okay not to feel okay sometimes, no matter how life looks from the outside. And you should tell yourself the same whenever you feel, or have felt, something similar. Now I’m sitting here again, fully inspired and ready to tackle things with enthusiasm and energy. So remember: phases come and go and that’s okay.
