The world rankings-14. Daria Kasatkina has one of the most innovative coaches on the tour. The Belgian Philippe Dehaes once again made people sit up and take notice at the tournament in Moscow with a special on-court coaching.
It was one of those moments that Philippe Dehaes loves – that challenge him and awaken his imagination. It didn’t really go well for his protégé Kasatkina in the duel with Alize Cornet. These are the moments in which an original On-Court-Coaching can move mountains – especially with the help of an imaginary (ball) wall.
Dehaes, in any case, renounced dull tactical instructions for his Russian protégé, but tried it in a vivid way – once again.
“Dasha, look at me. Do you want to win this match?” he asked. Kasatkina answered somewhat annoyed: “Of course I want. I want to win the whole tournament!” So the conditions were right for the 21-year-old, who is considered one of the greatest talents in the WTA circuit.
And then the Belgian really got going with the implementation of his ingenious (construction) plan: “We make it very simple: Do you know the Chinese Wall? Do you know the Great Wall of China?” Kasatkina didn’t really know what her coach was up to and answered the question, “Yes, I saw her.”
And Dehaes continued to put stone on stone: “You will now become the Russian wall, it does not yet exist. It’s completely new on the market. Let’s go!” Kasatkina, who has been working with her coach since October 2017, brought back almost every ball – keyword: wall – and won the match against the French Cornet 3:6, 7:5, 6:4.
Already at a game of “Dasha” Kasatkina this year in Dubai, Dehaes had convinced everyone of his qualities as a “psychologist”. Then he said to the desperate Russian: “It’s so great here. The weather is beautiful, the spectators are there. Let’s stay out here for another two hours, okay?” he said – and Kasatkina smiled.
Dehaes sent her back to court with the following words: “Let’s go, my Champ!” Oh yes, Kasatkina turned the match around by defending two more match points. And even made it to the finals. “Sun King” Dehaes certainly had his share…!!!
“The way he’s in on-court coaching, he’s in life otherwise too. We have so much fun in training,” the 21-year-old recently revealed.