Paul Annacone is one of the most renowned coaches on the tennis tour. The US-American also coached the two Swiss players Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, among others. He was recently a guest on "Tennis Channel".
As a player, Paul Annacone made it to 12th place in the world rankings in the mid-1980s. The US-American made a bigger career as a coach. He coached Pete Sampras (1995-2002) and Tim Henman (2003-2007) before coaching Roger Federer in 2010. The two parted ways in 2013. Stan Wawrinka hired him in 2017. Since 2018, he has been part of the coaching staff of Taylor Fritz, who made it to the final of the ATP Finals this year but was defeated by world number 1 Jannik Sinner.
Annacone pays tribute to the Italian in the "Tennis Channel" podcast and identifies three reasons why the 23-year-old has improved: "Sinner is now much better out of the corners - he's now a very offensive defender, which he wasn't before. Now he defends more like Novak (Djokovic). His second serve is now a big weapon, his success rate is the best on the tour. You used to be able to attack him there. He's also no longer afraid to close out points at the net."
Annacone criticizes world rankings
Carlos Alcaraz is the second player on the tour to claim two Grand Slam triumphs this year. "It takes great players to push each other. Alcaraz is not as consistent as Sinner at the moment, but he has already beaten him (...), so he knows what to do at important moments, otherwise he wouldn't have four majors to his name."
However, the Spaniard is not Sinner's first rival in the world rankings, but Alexander Zverev. The German has played "unbelievable tennis" and points don't lie, says the 61-year-old. "But someone else has won two Grand Slams - and isn't even number two in the world." His conclusion: "There's a flaw in the system."
Another topic in the podcast is the legacy of clay king Rafael Nadal. As Federer's coach, Annacone had to find out how to beat the Spaniard. In his role, he enjoyed finding a solution to the problem against perhaps the best competitor of all time, he says, describing the situation. "Great athletes like challenges, they don't see it as a disadvantage, they see it as an incentive," Annacone believes. "Roger had to find new ways to compete against Nadal." And Nadal later had to do the same to win against Novak. The result: "20 years of brilliance" in tennis.
