Top 10 tennis players turned coaches

It is difficult to stay away from something you love to do. Several tennis players who became coaches come from the same school of thought. They want to stay in constant touch with the game either as a coach or a commentator. Coaches bring in a lot of insights to the way players approach their game. They not only help improve the skills that a player may be lacking in, but also work on the mental side of things.With on-court coaching not allowed in the sport, the players will have to maintain their composure during tight moments in a match. Let us look at players who took up the role of coaching and did a tremendous job at it.

#10 Darren Cahill

Although Darren Cahill did not enjoy much success as a player, he turned his knowledge of the game to good use in the form of a coach. Cahill’s best performance in singles was at the 1988 US Open where he beat Boris Becker in the second round, before losing to eventual champion Mats Wilander in the semifinals.

He won 3 titles in his career.

He has been a successful tennis coach since guiding Lleyton Hewitt to become the youngest World No. 1. He then mentored Andre Agassi, who went onto become the oldest World No. 1 in 2003.

Cahill then joined the Adidas player development programme and has worked with the likes of Andy Murray, Ana Ivanovic, Fernando Verdasco, Daniela Huntuchova and Sorana Cirstea.The Australian was the coach for the Aussie Davis Cup team from 2007 to February 2009.

He is also a coach at ProtennisCoach.com with Roger Rasheed, Brad Gilbert and Paul Annacone.

#9 Martina Hingis

Martina Hingis had a successful singles career winning 5 Grand Slam titles. She reached the finals of all four majors in 1997 and triumphed in three of them. The Swiss girl was ranked No. 1 for 209 weeks on the tour.

She became a coaching consultant at the Paris-based Patrick Mouratoglou academy.

She coached Daria Gavrilova, Yulia Putintseva, Naomi Broadly,Sachia Vickery and her doubles partner Sabine Lisicki.

#8 Brad Gilbert

Brad Gilbert was ranked as high as No. 4 in the world, but his best effort in a Grand Slam was reaching the quarterfinals at the US Open and Wimbledon in 1987 and 1990 respectively.

He took up coaching in 1994. Andre Agassi won 6 of his 8 majors with Gilbert as his coach. Agassi described Gilbert as the greatest coach of all time. Gilbert also helped Andy Roddick win his first Grand Slam at the US Open in 2003.

The American coached Andy Murray, Alex Bogdanovic, Kei Nishikori and Sam Querrey.

#7 Jimmy Connors

Jimmy Connors is one of the best American tennis players of all time. He won a record 109 titles which included eight Grand Slam titles. He did not enjoy the same kind of success on the coaching front.

Andy Roddick announced Connors as his coach before the Countrywide Classic tournament in 2006 and their partnership ended in 2008. Connors was also the coach of Maria Sharapova for just two months.

#6 Paul Annacone

Paul Annacone’ s best effort in a Grand Slam was reaching the quarterfinals of the 1984 Wimbledon Championships. Annacone is one of the most sought after coaches in the modern era.

He coached Pete Sampras from 1995 to 2001 and then from 2002 to the end of his career. He assisted Tim Henman to win the 2003 Paris Masters.

Roger Federer hired Annacone to be his full-time coach in August 2010. Annacone led Federer to two straight year-end championships in 2010 and 2011, a return to the World no. 1 ranking, and his seventh Wimbledon Championship.

He also helped Sloane Stephens attain a World ranking of 12. He is a resident coach at ProTennisCoach.com.

#5 Tony Roche

Tony Roche won the 1966 French Open Singles title and 13 Grand Slam doubles titles. The Australian was hired by Ivan Lendl to work on his serve-and-volley game so that he can have a shot at winning Wimbledon.

He coached Pat Rafter from 1997 to 2002. Roger Federer hired him in 2005 to help him improve his clay court game and they split on 12 May 2007. He also coached fellow Australian Lleyton Hewitt.

#4 Peter Lundgren

Peter Lundgren did not have a good showing at all the Grand Slam events. However, he showed remarkable potential when he jumped up the rankings to No. 27 in the world in 1985 from 274 at the end of 1984.

Lundgren first came into limelight as a coach when he took Marcelo Rios into the top 10 and then they split ways, when Lundgren said that "he needed a psychologist more than a coach". He also worked as a coach for Roger Federer between 2000 to 2003.

Lundgren guided Marat Safin to the Australian Open triumph in 2005. He also coached the likes of Marcos Baghdatis, Grigor Dimitrov, Stanislas Wawrinka and Daniela Hantuchova.

#3 Ivan Lendl

Ivan Lendl won eight Grand Slams singles titles. He has 94 career titles to his credit, second of all-time behind Jimmy Connors.

Lendl was appointed as coach to Andy Murray in 2011. He helped the Scot improve his consistency and maturity as he won his first two Grand Slams- 2012 US Open and 2013 Wimbledon, thereby ending Britain’s wait for a singles major champion since 1936.

Murray ended his two-year partnership with Lendl in 2014.

#2 Boris Becker

The youngest winner of Wimbledon at just 17 years, Boris Becker has won six Grand Slams singles titles in his kitty.

Novak Djokovic hired him as the full-time coach in December 2013. The World No.1 won his second Wimbledon title under his guidance.

#1 Stefan Edberg

Stefan Edberg won six Grand Slam singles titles in his career. He was a proponent of the serve and volley game. The Swede was ranked in the singles top 10 for ten successive years, 9 years in the top 5, and is considered one of the greatest players of his era.

Roger Federer took up tennis instead of football as he was impressed by Becker and Edberg during his childhood.

Federer announced Edberg as his coach in December 2013.