Janko Tipsarevic doesn't rate tennis coaches highly as the former world No. 8 believes most of them are nothing else but "glorified towel boys or girls."
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The Serb, who was one of the best players in the game a decade and a half ago, has been running a tennis academy in Belgrade for years and he recently got into coaching on the ATP Tour after he started to work with Denis Shapovalov.
So far, Tipsarevic's stint with the Canadian has been a success since the 25-year-old is coming off a Dallas triumph and a semifinal outing in Delray Beach.
Shapovalov, who struggled a lot in the last couple of years and even appeared to regress in his game, is now again playing well and resembling the player who was once regarded as one of the most promising in the game.
While the Serbian coach has undoubtedly played a part in the 25-year-old's recent rise, he doesn't think that many coaches can do much on the Tour.
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Tipsarevic: There's a tremendous amount of people who are glorified towel boys or girls
I know this may be scandalous, my opinion about us as coaches for tennis as a sport, considering the tennis is the third or fourth most popular sport in the world... I believe in terms of knowledge and the dedication and everything that comes with it, we are at the absolute bottom of the barrel." the former world No. 8 said on The Tennis Podcast.
Then, Tipsarevic also explained that coaches in some other sports or leagues like the NFL, NBA, NHL and football, do a lot more work, preparation and analyzing before games.
"I see and feel that there's a tremendous amount of people on the ATP or WTA Tour which are glorified towel boys or towel girls," the former two-time US Open quarterfinalist added.
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"They do nothing else outside of saying, well done, hope you feel well. They are afraid to confront the player or talk to the player in a way that a coach should by being scared. And this is a second topic of losing their job."
