Pete, dunno if you heard the news: Federer and Cahill are not working together after all.

That sound you hear? The collective cries of anguish of Fed fans ;)

*As you know, I spent a fair amount of time catching up with my pal Heinz Gunthardt last weekend. Y'all know Heinz was a long-time coach of Steffi Graf, and he's surfaced here and there as a coach in subsequent years (he's worked with, among others, Jelena Dokic and Dinara Safina). What you may not know is he's also tested the waters many players, but as he doesn't need a coaching gig, he won't just sign on with anyone in order to start collecting a paycheck. He has to feel it's a good fit, via a trial run, and if he's not comfortable he's inclined to say, "No hard feelings, thanks for thinking of me, but I don't think this is going to work out."*

Like a certain Darren Cahill...

"Both the doctor and Pierre said, 'You can either continue on with this. It's not a major problem but it could be a nagging injury. Or you can take the time to rest it and rehab it and strengthen it so it most likely won't be a problem in the future,"' Godsick said.

So Hart's explanation turned out to be right on. I knew it sounded more true to me than any other speculation.

Sher, where are you quoting that from?

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/11/sports/TENNIS.php

the other quote from that article:

"You look at their matches, and what I see a little bit is that Rafa is getting better," Higueras said. "It's not that Roger is playing worse. I think Rafa is playing better. He's hitting the ball through the court, hitting his slice backhand better, serving better and volleying better. At that level, it doesn't take that much to tip the scale, and the other thing is that Rafa's best shot the forehand goes to Roger's weakest shot, the backhand. Rafa is a great competitor. It's tough. But he doesn't get blown off the court, and I would say in their last two matches at Wimbledon in Australia, Roger should have won both of them."

Roger should have won both of them."

LOL

oh the article in the IHT is more complete.

I see thanks.

Hey Pete and everyone.

LOL @ that anecdote! Looking forward to more of the coaching series as well.

*clearing schedule to talk about Roger a bit more*

"Both the doctor and Pierre said, 'You can either continue on with this. It's not a major problem but it could be a nagging injury. Or you can take the time to rest it and rehab it and strengthen it so it most likely won't be a problem in the future,"' Godsick said."

Where'd you find that quote, Sher? Boy, don't I feel smart? hehe.

Even throwing stones in the dark, I suppose you hit something once in a while :)

Hart, I've told you, you can't hide how brilliant you are ;-)

Sher :P

Nice to know all those years of schooling can be put to good use diagnosing the injuries of complete strangers from 6,000 miles away for the benefit of an internet discussion forum. I'd hate to think all my work was going to waste. ;)

We appreciate your efforts, Hart. :)

That reads like a blonde joke. Very funny. Any live streams please, thanks

Eeek...now type pad has taken on yet ANOTHER 'look' for me. Its like being at fashion week, where stodgy old TW keeps tottering down the catwalk in a different, somewhat ill fitting frock. And I do NOT do change well.

As for Cahill. Le Sigh. I would NOT want to be opposite Beckham in court today. This is a whole lot of distraction for Fed going into his first tournament since the AO. My expectations just dropped a notch...or two.

Here's an odd thing though. The first part of the rumour that Cahill was not on board surfaced when it was reported that he was not with Fed at a practice session at IW yesterday. Well at RF they are better than James Bond in getting to Fed practice sessions/spotting him at airports and hotels or at least finding out where he is practicing even if it is a closed session. And not a picture or peep from yesterday. At least as of this am.

thank you, jewell. I work exclusively for you guys.

;-)

To be fair, from my perspective, it seemed the obvious explanation. No great Sherlock-Holmesian feat there.

Sher, while what you said is true, I feel with this becoming so public and all it will be a distraction to Fed and a disappointment that it didn't work out. Not the same situation, but didn't his loss to Volandri immediately follow his terminating his relationship with Rochey?

I was at least hoping to see them together at Indian Wells, which is not so far from Vegas...

wait, so is Federer already in IW? And there were rumors of this yesterday?

CL: since I was the one who told Beckham (who told me it was the best birthday present she could have received)...I told her today's sad news.

Maybe Mirka didn't like Cahill very much.

Crazy1 - you are very brave.

Yeah...unless my mind is complete mush...entirely possible... there was a report from a Swiss paper yesterday that said that Cahill wasn't in IW with Fed. Nothing more than that but they were in a stew at RF about it, sensing, correctly as it turned out, that this meant that the Cahill deal was far from done.

"But he doesn't get blown off the court, and I would say in their last two matches at Wimbledon in Australia, Roger should have won both of them."

Oh, lord. Here we go.

LOVE the coaching story, Pete. That's going to make me chuckle for days. :)

This is the NYT article about Fed/Cahill that someone posted on the old YC.

http://tinyurl.com/dd3yvl

jewell - heh,,, maybe. But I do think it is all..or mostly all... about the travel.

Hmmm..maybe Pete could get Hienz' cell number to Fed. Doesn't sound like Heinz has ruled out coaching again.

And I am totally on board ditching Dubai and moving his training camp to Las Vegas. Where the phony is much realer. But I doubt Fed is on board with it.

"No great Sherlock-Holmesian feat there."

*bows* Thanks, Hart. Hee. :)

No, this can't be true. Does anyone have a link to a published report about Cahill not working with Fed. OMG. *Dashes head against screen. *

CL: do you really think the issue boiled down to location? Why would Cahill have *gone* to Dubai if he was so against traveling?

Hey Sherlock - don't worry - its only Jose's opinion. Heck, there are a lot of people here who feel Rafa 'should' have won Wimby 07. But I don't think they have a line on the trophy for who 'should' have won.

Syd: it's in the NYT/IHT. Sher has a link at 12:55.

*hugs Syd*

Syd I posted the NYT article on my last post. ^

I don't know what Beckham's reaction is going to be...

you're welcome, Sherlock :) *round of applause*

Crazyone - it may be simple mis-communication. Maybe Killah that he would be a Roachie Coachie...just traveling about 6 weeks a year, plus some training sessions in Dubai, and Fed wanted something more full time. I mean you would THINK they would have hashed that part out before Killah got on the plane, but stranger things have happened. Or maybe Cahill just decided an even limited travel plan was more than he was willing to commit too.

Poor Fed...he is gonna get BLASTED with questions. In three languages.

*hugs crazyone*

I *need* more information as to why...but will have to catch up later as really do have to go to work now. See you all later.

Thanks, Crazyone, Jewell :) and Stella;

Just found it. Floored. *looks around for someone to blame* But, oh well, this is very sad news for the Federerlights. They must be going crazy over at RF.com

Why can't Roger find a coach??!! *wails*

yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see an early round exit at Indian Wells.

Gah! What's Annacone up to? Does he have small children?

I'll post my quick reactions to this news in a Breaking News post in a few moments. . .

ok, so Paul's children are older...

I wanted Cahill to coach Fed ... I wanted it so bad !!! I feel sick to my stomach. I actually feel like throwing up, that's how bad I feel !

Oh no, it can't be. I can't ****** believe this. Oh, I was getting so hopeful.

It just crossed his mind AFTER Roger made the offer. Gee Darren, that's peachy, just peachy.

I'm just depressed right now.

CL, right on as always. :)

I was only concerned that some Nadal fans might go ballistic here and then the latest civil war wound ensue. :)

5 bucks Pete's thoughts are that there's more about this desicion than travelling.

Oh, Roger.

if it had been from some other source I could have imagined it away as rumor. But a NYT article by Clarey with quotes from Tony Godsick...

well, I guess it's back to hallucinating Rochey in Fed's box...

Or, aren't *everyone's* thoughts that way?

and it's really not all that unusual, Gunthardt did the same as posted above. But what makes this unusual is how public it is.

Only hugs from this Nadal fan to all Fed fans.

thanks Neil :)

Nadal's so lucky (fortune is the only word for it) that he has such a brilliant coach in his family. Though that doesn't mean that there isn't something about Federer, his personality, playing style and status in the game, history, routine, that makes it particularly hard for him to hold a coach.

it´s already over between cahill and federer?
wowzer. that was short-lived.

what i don´t quite understand about the given explanation,
it´s not like cahill suddenly realised "wait! i have two children!", is it?
and i´d think that federer given how long this "he needs a coach yadda yadda" talk is already on the table and given past experiences with roche would know from the get go what he wants from a coach, ie. wouldn´t the very first thing, even before you have a meet n greet with a potential coach, be to tell him "i want you to travel x weeks with me per year, i want a full coach, etc etc"?
but maybe i´m imagining these scenarios wrong (and as i´m not a million dollar athlete and never hire a coach for anything what do i know?)

just seems from the outside kinda inefficient to meet and get to know each other and then much later to realise "wait! it can´t happen anyway cause what we want or are able to give respectively is totes not compatible logistically".

[Sherly made me repost this.]

crazyone not only that Uncle Tony works for free.

This is a general question about coaching on the ATP tour. For the top thirty men,

1. how many of the players coaches are not related to the players?
2. Out of this number how many are family men with young children?
3. Out of the number in (2) above, how many travel extensively with the players they are coaching?
4. Also how many of them have a training base that is the coaches' and not the players (if the player and the coach have different training bases)

I was just wondering what the dynamics are for coaches of the current top thirty just to understand Cahill's reasons.

Marat and Nole playing doubles
http://tinyurl.com/cw9fpl

Meanwhile commiserations to the families of those affected by the Germany and Alabama shootings. Such sad situations.

Oh the pain! I've pretty much given up hope now about the coaching situation being resolved in a good way. Who is left? Is Martina N. interested in coaching?

Now that the Dubai farce and the Davis Cup round are mercifully over with, Tigress ia waking up from her hibernation. In opposition to Mr. Bodo and others, I queastion whether a Davis Cup 'win' is at all relevant to a top player's body of achievements. Singles tennis is an inherently individual sport, and Davis Cup team play doesn't really connect with this fact.

An example: Did Rafael Nadal "win" a Davis Cup with Spain last year, or not? After all, he didn't play a stroke in the Finals against Argentina. Before the local Rafalite Amen Chorus descends upon me with the inevitable irrational and irrelevant ad hominem personal attacks for daring to question their idol in any way, let me state that I'm not taking a position on this issue either way. That's because it's inescapably murky and ultimately unanswerable. The results are the achievements of a team, a group, and not any individual player. Nadal contributed to the championship in the earlier rounds, but would not have a Davis Cup championship had not the other Spanish players won the Final without any contribution from him. He "won" only because there are many other excellent players on the Spanish team. Had he played for Croatia or Sweden, he would have no Davis Cup win on his resume. So did he "win" last year? Who knows?

Therefore Bodo and others are wrong in implying that a Davis Cup win is in any way important, or even relevant, to Roger Federer's (or any other players', but they always go after Roger) record. Davis Cup is is sort of a lark, fun for some (although playing it every year is a bit tedious). But it is entirely irrelevant to a player's career achivements, and expecting a player to sacrifice or jeopardize his play on real Tour events for an essentially frivolous activity is unrealistic.

Annacone, has Federer approached him? He doesn't have young children, I checked. And I mean, he's gotta get tired of his main job of holding playoffs between the Goodalls and Eatons of the world.

I guess I wasn't as invested in this coaching arrangement as the other Crying In Anguish fans, because I'm not devastated. It makes me sad that he wanted to work with Cahill and it didn't work out, but that's about it. Like I said earlier, I wasn't going to believe it until I saw the official report on RF.com anyway, so for me it was a very vague and temporary idea thus far. We'll hear more from Roger soon after his press conference.

crazyone, I think the two situations are totally difference since Roache actually was Roger's coach for roughly 2 years, and Cahill has been there for what, a week? No comparison. The draw might do him in though, and it will be spun as him being upset with Cahill, I can already see the articles.

So it sounds like roger wants a committment from a coach who is willing to travel with him and really be by his side. Well that's a positive step. So sorry it didn't work with cahill.

And can we lay off the "fed would have won if" and "he should have won that one except." It doesn't accomplish a darn thing. The fact is he didn't win those finals and the record books are going to show this forever. It's the way the game is played. We have to accept when our favs lose, even when it's TMF.

[Hey Sherlock - don't worry - its only Jose's opinion. Heck, there are a lot of people here who feel Rafa 'should' have won Wimby 07. But I don't think they have a line on the trophy for who 'should' have won.]

word, CL.

Bismarck - exactly ...as Crazy1 pointed out, so much for the 'control freak' part of Pete's analysis. I would think a control freak would at least have decided whether he needed a piper cub or a lear jet before attempting to bring in a landing. Hmmm...maybe Fed just didn't understand Killah's aussie accent. "Kids"? I thought you said 'Keds.' I'm all nike myself."

But I will also say that I think Fed fans need to calm down just a LEETLE. And I say this as a frazzler in chief, myself. But we should also remember, the dude won the USO w/out a coach, he's been coachless for long periods before and if his back is now okay that may be the single most important factor going forward.

As i suggested over at F.D. What about David Pierce? Stick with me, he did coach Mary to 2 grand slam finals in her 30th year. He's also dealt with coaching a player who has emotional ebbs and flows.

crazyone, regarding cultivating relationships with coach, here is an example of how Rafa grew up with and relates to his coach:
fast forward 2:15 into the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Fqv5tgMmg

I don't know if it isn't possible that it did happen that way, from what I recall, Roche refused to coach Roger because of the traveling it involved, Roger went over there and pretty much courted Tony (so he definitly didn't feel above that), and apperantly managed to sweet talk Tony into taking the offer, but I guess Roger was only convincing to a point, because the relationship failed for reasons of communication during the time Tony wasn't suppose to be with Roger.

Maybe Roger attempted to do the same with Cahill, but didn't manage to convince him the way he convinced Tony?

Well- I have to say I am surprised that Cahill delcined the offer at the time he did. Not the reason- but that he did not say something before they had their trail period. I hope Roger gets a coach soon.

*crazyone not only that Uncle Tony works for free.*

Although I remember reading somewhere that Toni and Sebastian apre partners in their window company and Sebastion does essentially all of the work.

Sherlock- regarding the JH quote- heck, I am used to the mantra that Rafa's opponent should have won this match or that match that resulted with a W for Rafa so I am used to it. So he should have lost according to Jose? Well he won- and that is a comfort to me. At least Jose gave praise to Rafa's improvement in his game and did not bang the old song that Rafa's wins can all be attributed only to his mental toughness and ability to run, etc. That is an improvement...lol.

[Though that doesn't mean that there isn't something about Federer, his personality, playing style and status in the game, history, routine, that makes it particularly hard for him to hold a coach.]

Nor does it mean the opposite.

Seriously, this is a coaching relationship (!) which implies that two (!) people are involved.

Bismarck, is that like "the devil made me do it?" :)

The already VERY short list just grew VERY short.

I'm going to feel very bad for Roger if this was something he looked forward to, or at least got somehow emotionally invested in - no matter whether it was a desicion that they don't fit, or that Cahill really didn't want the traveling, or some combination of both - it took a long, long time for Roger to approach Cahill, shame it ended after two weeks.

neil: you mean mary pierce's father? wasn't he a nightmare dad?

Good Morning,gee I got a early mark from work,for the very last time I am now a lady of lesiure!

What Darren not coaching Roger now? Come on whats the go?

No its not April Fools day?

What about the guy that coached Martina N. for a long time? names on the tip of my tongue..

Or,

If I had to speculate, I'd say that that's exactly what Roger tried to do. He got together with Cahill in hopes that if he explains it, he will get what he wants like he tried with Roche. Cahill however has already seen how that didn't work out with Roche and probably stated outright that he won't be travelling and then things unravelled. Until any words otherwise from Roger, that's my working theory.

pete: don't you have some suggestions? help, we're all dying here. What about Pmac? He probably is committed to Davis Cup but man what an opportunity for him.

...maybe Fed just didn't understand Killah's aussie accent. "Kids"? I thought you said 'Keds.' I'm all nike myself."
Busting my gut laughing on this one.
Whether Fed has a coach or not is not is neither here nor there to me. I do not care if he is ranked No. 1 or No. 100 as long as I can see him with a racquet, it is fine with me. Sheesh, I wish he would play the Outback tour in Cayman so that I get to see him.

What about Billie Jean King or Chris Evert could teach Fed how to win the French, also Borg.

OMG-Borg would be wonderful!!!!!

He's Baby E new coach Annie.

Annie, LOL no i'm not that cruel. David is Mary's brother.

*What about Billie Jean King or Chris Evert could teach Fed how to win the French, also Borg.

OMG-Borg would be wonderful!!!!!
*

Along those same lines- how about the recently retired Guga if it is just for clay. I would love to see the camera scanning to Guga laughing in the player's box. Not going to happen of course- but a gal can dream.

Well first lets go back to when Darren quit the Aussie Davis Cup team he cited too many business commitments and his kids starting school didnt have the required time.Though he firmly stated that in the future he would come back as Coach.

Darren has said many times he always wanted to be the coach of the Aussie Davis Cup.

Next minute to me he does a bit of a turnaround is cited in Dubai with Roger.

Then there is confirmation especially here on Fox Sport news in oz that Darren will be coaching Roger during h/court and clay season.

Now this?

Hey leave the Rock God of Tennis out of this ok?

I was just thinking, if i was Mrs. Cahill I would have said do it for a couple of years. So he's on the road for 26 weeks a year. (spoken like a woman who's been married for 20)

Afternoon, all.

*depressed*

My own take in this five minutes or so (and the IW press conference with Federer this afternoon may tell us more) is that Cahill may have entertained hopes that he could persuade Federer to do his training/conditioning blocks at Las Vegas, while Federer asked Cahill to come to Dubai. Cahill may have thought the arrangement would work if he was on the road for 12 weeks or so, but 20 weeks was too much.

Or there could have been other things we don't know about.

*grumpy and disgruntled*

Cahill has had a good, family-like coaching relationship with Agassi. That may have played a factor on Cahill's part.

[Cahill may have entertained hopes that he could persuade Federer to do his training/conditioning blocks at Las Vegas, while Federer asked Cahill to come to Dubai. Cahill may have thought the arrangement would work if he was on the road for 12 weeks or so, but 20 weeks was too much.]

That's true, Andrew. Roger is definetly not looking for a part-timer though, that's clear.

Sher -

Yup. Maybe Cahill phoned Roche the other day, and Roche told him "Don't do it, mate. He just look like he can manage just fine on his own, but if he loses and you're not there with the phone call, Mirka start SMSing you angry emoticons on the cell during the match."

Or, something like that.

If that's really how it happened though, I can't imagine Roger would not be disappointed. I always get the feeling each of those 'testing trips' is somewhat of an emotional investment on his part. What a pity.

thanks for the info neil and stella. And i know from my hubby that he wouldn't have wanted to be away from our kids when they were little. In fact he took a different career path for that reason but still this was a once if a lifetime opportunity for killer. I think he shouldve gone for it. then again maybe there were other 'fit' reasons. if he knew he wasn't gonna be the right guy then he did the right thing.

There are Paparazzi in Vegas - there aren't any in Dubai.

There's no way Roger is going to spend a great chunk of his off season in the states, he just won't do it.

Or,

>I always get the feeling each of those 'testing trips' is somewhat of an emotional investment on his part.

Absolutely. Plus it ain't going to be Cahill lambasted for the "relatinship failure" in three languages. The fallout will all be on Fed.

I nominate Richard Williams (or Oracene Price if Richard is not available). I think that relationship would work with Roger.

humph; Roger to play doubles @ IW on Friday. '

what a complete cock up they've made of this coaching thing.

Annie Quite frankly I dont think Darren wanted to be a full time coach at all

Karen - Hmmmm... ;-) I think Richard and Oracene have their hands full already;-)

YPFed...yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. I just REALLY want to see Fed play. I'm just hoping he isn't 1/100 as distracted by all this as some of us seem to be. And that his back is well and truly healed.

And I DO kinda think that ***cough, cough*** we do the man a disservice by thinking that because he didn't hire this particular coach at this particular time that the end of Fed's world is nigh. And all this flailing about to find a coaching body... literally ANY body seems a bit over the top to me. And again, I am fully aware that I am, upon occasion pretty over the top on things Federific myself, heck i threw Hienz's name out there.. but gee golliwilickers kids, we might want to take down the gnashing of teeth and wailing just a bit.

amazing isn't it that there are so few people out there for this job. i'm bumming here.

SOOO upset about it. Not because I believed a coach could do miracles with Roger, but because this Cahill-Roger union was what everyone talked about, he takes that step, finally - and ending up getting disappointed is just too much.

Although, I'm confused...

Didn't Jose stop working with Roger because he wanted a full time job and Roger wanted part time?

Annie where you talking about him, when you metioned Martina's old coach?

http://tinyurl.com/create.php

Syd,

Doubles? There's no doubles draw on the atp site yet...?

Oops wrong link here is the right one

http://tinyurl.com/cnxmbe

btw, I severelly dislike two things:

1) there is no longer a link to the individual site of the tournament from the atp website

2) the Indian Wells tournament is now called "BNP Paribas Open" which is what I used to think was the Paris Masters in the fall and there just isn't enough confusion in my life!

CL, word on 2:07.

Actually, personally, I find one silver lining in all this. Cahill's name will STOP coming up as a potential coach for Federer every. single. time.

Sher: I didn't mean that it was Federer's fault. But the fact that he has a training base in Dubai as opposed to Texas or Florida may put off American-base coaches, for example. And given that he is the most self-sufficient player I can think of, he spent lots of time without coaches and isn't probably as used to cultivating coaching contacts like say a Roddick.

I'm still shocked that when Godsick said that it was a "testing" period, that that was ACTUALLY, literally, the case at the time. I thought the Federer camp would keep a few steps ahead.

Sher,

I read this on RF. com "Roger in action at Indian Wells: first doubles match on Friday, singles on Saturday."

stella: that link didn't work for me. what's his name. i'll recognize it. he's coaching ana now you said.