The relationship between a professional tennis player and his or her coach is definitely a unique one. While in team sports like football, basketball or baseball the coach is employed by an organization that functions pretty much like a company, tennis coaches are hired directly by the players. This creates a sort of ironic situation, in which the coach, who supposedly is the boss and should have a commanding position, is in fact the employee on the relationship. At the end of the month, he or she picks up the pay check from the player, and not from the Human Resources department or from a payroll company.

A team sports coach can get away with not being liked by every player in the roster. Team sports players have to follow coaches’ command so far as they are employed by their organizations. Tennis players, on the other hand, can fire their coaches at any time, if something is not going according to the their own expectations. And if this was not tough enough on the coaches, tennis is the only sport in which the coach is not allowed to work during a match, as instructions are not permitted, making life not easy at courtside.