The world No. 1\u2019s 6-3, 6-0 win was a comfortable one, but it still saw her customary expressions of disapproval to her coaching box, such as a swiping hand gesture, which is Sabalenka code for \u201cshut up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sabalenka is one of the most expressive players on the tour. She rarely hides her disbelief, whether at her own misses or her opponents\u2019 winners. During a news conference at the Brisbane Open earlier this month, she said of her coaches\u2019 communication: \u201cHonestly, I have no idea what I want. Every tournament I look there, and I think that\u2019s the crazy thing, because they kind of are trying to guess what I\u2019m looking for.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I\u2019m looking for support. Sometimes I\u2019m looking for advice. Sometimes I\u2019m looking just of sake of looking. That\u2019s the tricky part for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mid-match dynamic between player and coach \u2014 and translating often unspoken needs and wants, as well as instructions \u2014 is critical to a star\u2019s success. Off-and-on court coaching has steadily progressed from banned, to banned but prevalent, through trials and various caveated permissions. At the 2025 Australian Open, the tournament took things to a new level by introducing coaching boxes sunk into the corners of the biggest courts, putting the dialogues between players and their teams as close to the match action as possible.<\/p>\n
Every player wants something slightly different from their coach, and as Sabalenka explained, this can change match to match, point to point, often with little rhyme or reason.<\/p>\n
Jovi\u0107, 18 and playing in her first major quarterfinal, got plenty of encouragement from her team early on against Sabalenka as they recognized and sought to manage her nerves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI usually like to figure things out on my own,\u201d she said in a news conference. \u201cSo I don\u2019t do a crazy amount of little tactical things. More just encouragement, and then maybe if there\u2019s something that\u2019s obviously going wrong, you give more specific tactical advice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahead of a key game in the second set of the following match on Rod Laver Arena, Learner Tien received detailed tactical instructions from his coach, the former French Open champion Michael Chang. The detail gave way to vocal encouragement once Tien went up break point against No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev. Tien described Chang as a \u201ccalming influence\u201d on court in his post-match news conference, even following a tight four-set defeat, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-1, 7-6(3).<\/p>\n
![\"Learner](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2256469600-scaled.jpg\")
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\n Learner Tien (left) and Michael Chang\u2019s coaching partnership bore early fruit with Tien\u2019s quarterfinal run. (Paul Crock \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
On the other side of the net, Zverev looked toward his brother and father for endorsement after good moments, having said Sunday in a news conference: \u201cI like when the team is a bit more fired up, which sometimes isn\u2019t the case, but I think this week it\u2019s been quite good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zverev\u2019s offering judgment of his team\u2019s performance is typical of players, some of whom will berate their coaches mid-match. Sometimes this can be for too much encouragement, sometimes it can be for not enough. As Sabalenka said, don\u2019t expect consistency.<\/p>\n
Novak Djokovic frequently vents at his box, and one of his former coaches, the six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker, said that \u201cit\u2019s a lot harder than it looks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo understand the player\u2019s emotions and where they are coming from, you have to read their game very well emotionally,\u201d Becker, a TNT Sports pundit at the Australian Open, said in a virtual media briefing on the eve of the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they need a bit of noise from the side, if they need a bit of calmness. It needs an intelligent coach and all these successful players have intelligent coaches, but it\u2019s a lot harder than it looks.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if a player wins, it\u2019s because of the player. If a player loses, it is because of a coach. That is the name of the game for coaches in tennis or in football. But that\u2019s what we signed up for. So you can\u2019t complain about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the few players more consistently grouchy with their team than Djokovic was Andy Murray, whose former coach Am\u00e9lie Mauresmo, along with other team members, took to moving to different parts of the court so that he wouldn\u2019t spot them and vent. Ivan Lendl, the coach with whom Murray won his three majors, was the only one he didn\u2019t dare blow off steam at.<\/p>\n
There was consequently a lot of intrigue around how Murray would receive mid-match feedback when he coached Djokovic last year. Murray ended up feeling that the most important thing a coach can do is provide the right kind of vibe for their player.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to bring an energy, a bit of confidence as well,\u201d he said during an interview with the Tennis Podcast in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m aware from a psychological perspective how important those things are. So it\u2019s something that if I ever coached again, I would work on and try and do a better job of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray felt that the box being so close to the court at the Australian Open didn\u2019t provide the ideal vantage point during Djokovic\u2019s run to the semifinals, but Zverev said he thought it made sense to facilitate dialogue between player and coach.<\/p>\n
Like Sabalenka, players do appreciate how tough the job of a coach is. Amanda Anisimova, the No. 4 seed, said in a news conference last week that \u201cmost of the time we say things that we don\u2019t mean, and it\u2019s just because we\u2019re so emotional on the court and in those tense moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, they definitely are in a pretty bad position sometimes with us. But yeah, if we ever do say something, I\u2019m sure most of us apologize after the match. At least I\u2019ve done that before.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that as she has gotten more experience, she has learned how to work better with her coaches mid-match. \u201cI think a lot of times in the past I didn\u2019t. I would kind of just use that time to express my frustration and not really listen to what my coach or team is saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a bit tricky sometimes, because you\u2019re obviously emotional when you\u2019re going to the side, asking for help in a hopeless moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Coco](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Coco-Gauff-Coaching-Tennis-scaled.jpg\")
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