Former British No 1 Greg Rusedski has revealed why he has decided to join the coaching team of French rising star Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
World No 59 Perricard was forced to seek out a new coach after the sudden exit of Francisco Roig, after he walked out on their new coaching partnership to join Iga Swiatek’s team.
Perricard started his adventure with experienced coach Roig after the Spaniard parted company with 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu after the Australian Open in January.
But their working relationship came to an end in a sudden fashion when Roig accepted an offer to become the principal coach to former world No 1 Swiatek after she split with Wim Fissette after the Miami Open last month.
Now he has teamed up with 1997 US Open runner-up Rusedski, who spoke about his move back into coaching in an episode of his latest podcast.
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“I got a call whether it’d be interesting to work with Giovanni,” said Rusedski, who previously coached former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka.
“For some reason, they wanted another big server to work with another big server! And I decided I would give it a go.
“So I came out here to Monte Carlo and I’ve been here three or four days on court with the young man. It’s going well. It’s an interesting project, so we’re having a trial at the moment, which goes all the way to the end of Wimbledon.
“If you have a project that interests you, you have got to give it a go and try it.
“I’ve always watched his game. I’ve always looked at him as a very talented player. I feel like there are a lot of areas we can work on and improve.
“And he’s such a nice guy. So, you know, you look at the personality and what you can improve. And for the first three days, it’s gone very, very well. And, you know, you’ve got to have a few weeks together to see if the relationship will build and you can get that momentum.”
Rusedski’s arrival in the Perricard team comes after Roig’s swift departure, with the Frenchman unimpressed by the decision of the Spaniard to join Swiatek’s team.
“With Francisco, the plan was to continue at least until the grass season, but after Miami, he decided to end the relationship,” began the Frenchman to L’Equipe.
“However, up to that point, everything had been going very well. We were going to meet for a training week in Spain.
“It was my agent who informed me. He didn’t tell me directly. I trusted his word, what he could bring to the table. To throw all that away so quickly seems like a shame to me. Then, it’s a tough, ruthless world.
“I had never seen anything like it. It was very surprising and disappointing. But it will serve to develop myself.
“I prefer to draw something positive from these situations rather than something negative. It will make me stronger, even in life.”
“We had just started, there wasn’t a special bond, and it was harder to split from Manu (Planque).
“But it took me half a day to process it. Was it my fault? Not really.
“I had nothing to do with it, especially considering the videos that came out quickly (with Swiatek). But personally, I don’t think this project was put together in 24 hours.”
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He also spoke warmly about Rusedski joining his team as he added: “We were in touch when I was looking for a coach. He was very interested.
“Additionally, he had a playing style similar to mine: big server, net presence, and offensive. I was convinced he could help me. And I thought, ‘Why not give it a try?’”
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