Jim Courier and Mary Joe Fernandez Give Interview

Written by: on 5th December 2012
France vs USA
Jim Courier and Mary Joe Fernandez Give Interview

epa03175671 US head coach Jim Courier during the Davis Cup quarter final match between French tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and US tennis player John Isner in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 08 April 2012. EPA/GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO  |

TIM CURRY: Thanks, everyone, for joining us today with

U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier and U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez.

 

The U.S. Davis Cup will host Brazil in the first round

of the 2013 competition February 1st

through 3rd, also known as Super Bowl weekend,

in Jacksonville. Tickets go on sale to the public on

Friday. This year, the U.S. played all three Davis

Cup ties on the road, posting impressive wins over

a Roger Federer-led Swiss team and a strong

French team in Monte-Carlo before losing to Spain

in the semifinals.

 

The U.S. Fed Cup starts its 2013

campaign on the road against Italy, February 9th

and 10th, after sweeping Belarus and Ukraine to

earn a place back in the World Group following a

one-year absence.

 

Mary Joe was also the women’s coach for

the U.S. the Olympic team, which swept the gold

medal in women’s singles and doubles, and in

men’s doubles with the Bryans.

We’ll take questions at this time.

 

Q. Mary Joe, I believe one of the more

promising young Americans, Taylor Townsend,

just turned pro this week. I was wondering

what you thought of that move by her, sort of

her relationship with the USTA as she turns pro

and moves away from the junior ranks.

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: I think it’s

exciting news. I think they just announced it a

couple days ago. I’ve been following Taylor’s

junior career the last couple years and it’s been

pretty impressive.

 

She’s going to be playing this week at the

Orange Bowl to try to secure the year-end No. 1

ranking with the ITF, which will be the first time an

American has done that in a long time.

She’s talented. Lefty, a lot of ability. Likes

to come forward, which is so nice to see.

As to the relationship with the USTA, I’m

probably not the best person to talk about that.

But from what I know she trains with Kathy Rinaldi

at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca

Raton. I think that’s all good. She’s received a lot

of support.

 

We’re all really excited for her. I think

she’s got a very bright future.

 

Q. Jim, you made some comments a

few weeks ago about changes you would like

to see happen to Davis Cup. First and

foremost, do you think it should be every other

year as a lot of people have suggested, with the

way Ryder Cup is for golf?

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: It’s something that

I’ve spoken pretty at length about. I’m on the

record as to what my thoughts are for what change

should come.

 

But the ITF is in control of this event.

Obviously, it’s not a USTA-operated event; it’s not

a Jim Courier-operated event.

 

I’m very passionate about Davis Cup and

I’d love to see it get equal to the other majors.

There are lots of different thoughts out there about

how to get there. But given that it takes up four

weeks on the calendar, I’d love to see it make a

little bit more sense for the players, I’d love to see

it make a lot more money for the ITF so they can

do their good work spreading the gospel of tennis

around the world.

 

Right now I don’t think it does quite as

much as what it could in comparison to what the

four majors do

You can look up what I said. I don’t want

to rehash the model that many of us proposed

because it will take us a little bit of time to go

through it.

 

Q. I’m going to ask you both a generic

question. Talk about your teams, what your

realistic expectations are for Davis Cup and

Fed Cup next year. Maybe you could give me a

breakdown of some of the players you’re

familiar with, what are realistic expectations of

those players next year. Mary Joe, maybe you

can put Serena aside. But, Jim, maybe you can

talk about John Isner, Sam Querrey, Ryan

Harrison, maybe even Donald Young.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: Normally we go

ladies first, but…

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: Go ahead, Jim.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: We’re excited about

2013 as a team. We’re proud of what 2012 ended

up being for us given how challenging the draw

was. We’ve earned some home ties this year,

which we’re really looking forward to, assuming we

win our first one.

 

We have Brazil, which will be challenging.

They certainly are not walkovers and we’ll be ready

to play when we get to Jacksonville the first week

of February.

 

From our team standpoint, I think what we

saw in Spain is probably the nucleus of what our

team will be for the next couple of ties unless we

see Mardy Fish back out there feeling good.

Obviously his tennis, when he last left off, was

excellent. He made the Round of 16 at the US

Open, had played well through the summer. If he

can get his physical challenges taken care of, he’ll

be a big part of what happens with our team going

forward.

 

Isner, with Querrey, with the Bryans, I think

that’s likely what we’ll be looking at early on until

Mardy Fish gets back up and running.

You look down the list of our players, you

have Brian Baker, who had a ‘coming out’ party

this year, a little late in the age department, but

certainly played some great tennis. Ryan Harrison

was a big piece of what we did this year as a team.

Then you can start looking towards some

of the younger players or less experienced players,

Donald Young, Jr., I’m hoping he can turn it around

and get back to where he rightfully belongs

talent-wise in the top 50.

 

You have some other guys coming out

there with Steve Johnson, Denis Kudla, Jack Sock,

some others, that can be a part of what we do

going forward, but they have a lot of work ahead of

them and hopefully they’ll be doing that.

 

Q. Isner had some great moments this

year, especially playing for you. Then he also

had some tough moments. What do you

expect from him next year? Can he be a slam

contender?

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: I think if John has

the kind of off-season that he should have, if he

does all the right things, John is one of those

players that can really upset the apple cart. We

had this conference call this time last year, and I’ll

be echoing what I said, which he is the most

disruptive force in men’s tennis when he is on his

game.

 

I think he saw clearly this year that he has

capabilities to beat the top players, because he did

so. I think we also saw some physical limitations,

which Craig addressed with him, I addressed with

him, I think his new coach will be addressing with

him, as well, that can certainly be easily corrected

with the proper work and diligence.

 

I’ve had lengthy discussions with him

about his schedule. He knows what he needs to

do. We’ll see if he’s able to actually do it.

He really is one of those few guys that you

can look at and say, he could win a major. As thick

as this era is at the top, he’s one of the guys that

none of the top four players wants to see in his

section of the draw.

 

Q. I’m sure you were encouraged how

Querrey established himself this year. But

Harrison had an up-and-down year. I realize

he’s young. I would think maybe 2013 would

be a pretty big year for him.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: One would hope.

He made significant strides in the off-season in

2011 in preparation for 2012 physically. He

became a much more complete athlete, which I

think has set the table for him now becoming a

more complete tennis player.

 

He had growing pains, which all young

players go through. I’m hoping that 2013 is going

to be a breakthrough year for him. Sometimes all it

takes is one tournament to turn the direction of

your career.

 

This year in 2012 he had some unfortunate

draws in majors, had some difficult competition in

early rounds, and wasn’t really able to punch

through. I think next year hopefully he’ll get a little

bit of a break in some of the bigger tournaments

and get some momentum. All it takes is one

tournament, from my experience, to change your

belief as a tennis player.

Ryan has some work ahead of him for

sure, but we know he has upside.

 

Q. Mary Joe, you have a real easy tie

coming up.

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: Nothing like

starting off with a bang with Italy (laughter).

Obviously, it is going to be challenging.

We’re also very happy that we got back in the

World Group this season. It feels like we played

ages ago. Our last tie was in April in Ukraine.

10-0, so that was a really solid season. All the girls

played well and worked extremely hard.

As of now, we’re looking at Serena. She’s

so far said yes, she wants to go. Venus, if healthy,

wants to go. I’m happy with the progress we’ve

seen from Christina McHale and Sloane Stephens.

Both in the top 40 now. Sloane had a

breakthrough season. We’ve seen her ability.

She’s getting mentally tougher, playing to her

strengths much more. Varvara Lepchenko to me

was such a surprise to see her get so much out of

her game and how hard she works. She’s ranked

right behind Serena, ranked behind Serena at 21.

She’s a fighter. We have a good group that can

play on different surfaces, that are excited to play

Fed Cup.

 

Hopefully we can get through Italy. It’s not

going to be easy with the depth and variety that

they have on their team. But obviously looking to

be confident and hopefully get through that.

But below those girls, you still have Vania

King who is in the top 100, who is always not only

good in singles but very good in doubles. I’m

happy with Jamie Hampton’s progress. I thought

she had a very good season, first season she

finished in the top 100. She has a lot of ability.

She’s starting to figure out her strengths and play

to them a lot better.

 

So excited for Melanie Oudin that she’s

done well at the end of the year here. After

winning in Birmingham, got herself back in the top

100. I’m hoping she’s going to be back in our

group. Her enthusiasm, what she brings to the

table is phenomenal.

 

We have the young ones, Madison Keys

has won a couple tournaments. She’s only 17. I

look to her to make some strides this year.

CoCo Vandeweghe is in the back 100.

Hopefully she’s going to have a consistent year.

Lauren Davis surprised me a bit by breaking into

the top 100. I think I can put her with Melanie.

These are two players that aren’t that tall or strong,

but have great work ethic and get the most out of

their game. Mentally I think because they’re so

strong, they can crack the top 50, for sure.

Q. Serena and Venus are obviously

known quantities to most of the world. Sloane

and Christina finished the year in the top 40,

very young. What do you see out of them next

year? Would you be surprised to see them

reach a slam quarter or semi?

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: I think to me the

most important thing is how much they want it. I’ve

always seen that desire from Christina McHale, her

work ethic, how hard she trains. This year is when

I saw hit from Sloane. I think she is training the

right way, mentally she is getting more focused,

she’s sustaining her level for longer periods when

she plays.

 

They’re both very different, different styles

of game. You’re always going to have a little bit

more stability with Christina, how she plays.

There’s much more upside from Sloane in the way

she can create power, variety, the way she moves.

I do expect them hopefully to go another

step this year and make it to the quarterfinals of a

major. They’ve both had big wins, and that helps a

ton. Next goal is top 20 and we’ll go from there.

 

Q. I’d like you both to break down your

opponents a little bit. Jim, when you think of

Brazil, two words come into play: talent and

dangerous. Mary Joe, the same with Italy, how

good they are at singles and doubles.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: Ladies first this time

(laughter).

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: Well, it’s funny.

We played Italy in two finals. At that time it was

Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta who led

the charge. They had contrasting game styles, but

very effective on every surface. They translated

their game well to every surface.

The top two now are Sara Errani and

Roberta Vinci. Errani had her breakthrough

season this year getting to the finals of the French,

then did so well at the US Open. In doubles you

have Vinci and Errani as the No. 1 team.

Errani is more of a counter-puncher, but

she can create. She’s looking to hit her forehand

with heavy spin. She’s very quick. She sort of doesn’t

have a huge serve but it doesn’t really

matter because she’s so quick. She plays clay

court tennis but can translate it onto a hard court.

We’re going to play indoor clay court, so hopefully

it won’t be too slow.

 

But Vinci is very different from Errani. She

likes to come in. A little bit old school in her

technique, style. Has a great and beautiful

one-handed backhand that she slices, can chip

and charge, and I think has the best volleys in the

women’s game. Great technique.

 

The good thing from my perspective is that

they’re players that don’t blow you off the court.

You can really play against them and you’re going

to have time. But I guess the downside is how

tough they are mentally, how they really, every

time they get on the court, have a purpose and

play the right way.

 

It will be challenging. Doubles-wise, I think

they won the French and the US Open, they’ve

proven how tough they are. So there’s a lot of

depth. It’s going to be interesting and we’re going

to give it our best.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: From the Brazilian

standpoint, they’re led by Thomaz Bellucci, lefty,

ranked No. 33 in the world right now. Most of his

good results have been on clay, although he did

have an outlier result in Moscow at the end of the

year, made the fourth round of Indian Wells. He’s

capable, but he’s a guy that likes time. That’s

something that our team historically is pretty good

at taking away from players. All of our singles

players have big serves. That’s something we’ll

certainly look to do with Thomaz, is to take time

away from him.

 

Second singles player, interesting to see

who they pick. Three guys ranked between 120

and 150 in the world, between Dutra da Silva,

Alvez and Souza. We are really not sure who

we’re going to get from that standpoint. My

understanding of those guys is they’re primarily

clay court players, as well, for the most part.

We’re obviously going to tailor the court to

our team and use the home surface advantage as

much as possible.

 

Definitely the doubles team Melo/Soares is

a veteran team, one of the better Davis Cup

doubles squads around that plays a lot through the

year. Bob and Mike Bryan have a lot of experience

against them. They’ve played them several times

and lost to them I believe a couple of times as well.

There won’t be a lot of surprises I don’t expect in

the doubles court.

 

But for the average tennis fan, you may

not know much about these players, but from our

standpoint obviously we respect them and we’ve

played many ties against players who rise to the

occasion. Both as a player and captain, I’ve seen

that happen. So we’ll be ready for them.

This will be the first time in a while that

we’ve been a favorite, probably since Chile in

2011. But we won’t take anything for granted.

We’ll be coming in ready to play ball.

 

Q. Sorry to change subjects a little bit.

I’m covering the Orange Bowl. Both of you

won this. I’m wondering if we’ve seen the end

of teen phenoms in tennis. We don’t see

teenagers winning at slams anymore. Is this

the end of the teenage era?

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: I hope not. It’s

true that when Jim and I were playing, there was a

lot of depth with the teenagers. They did break

through and go on to do big things on the

professional level. But it has become more

physical. It’s become a lot tougher to break

through when you’re that young.

 

So we’re seeing on both sides, but with the

women, the players are developing more as tennis

players and experience is playing a big role in their

results at a later age. It’s good to see, as well.

I definitely would love to see someone

young break through, but I definitely think it’s

getting more difficult physically on both the men’s

and women’s side to be able to do that.

CAPTAIN COURIER: I’ll echo MJ’s

comment about the physicality of the game, how

that’s changed a little bit, the trajectory of the

teenagers. I will say unequivocally if we get a

superstar, they’re going to break through. We

have not seen the last of teenagers winning majors

in tennis.

 

We all mimic what we see on television.

The younger players growing up now will be

mimicking what they see on television. They’ll be

moving the way we see players move, the way Kim

Clijsters moved, the way Novak Djokovic moves on

slow and hard courts.

 

Maybe you just need an exceptional

player, maybe more exceptional than they used to

be, to break through, particularly on the women’s

side where you can mature as a 25-year-old

female at the age of 18. I see no limitation there.

It’s always been a little harder for the boys to

become men physically. They just mature physically a little bit later.

 

Q. Mary Joe, at the Orange Bowl you

played the 14s, the 18s. Do you feel like

Townsend turning pro should be playing ahead

of her age group?

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: I think it’s very

individual. For me I went through each age

division. I actually won the 16s the year before at

the Orange Bowl.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: She just brags the

whole time (laughter).

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: But I think if you

have done everything you can in the juniors,

you’ve accomplished all your goals, have been

dominant, there’s no reason why not to move

forward. Again, it’s individual. I’m a big believer in

weighing the pros and the cons to everything.

Sometimes I think it’s better to wait and develop

more as a player, develop more physically before

making that jump into pros.

There’s a lot of temptation out there. It’s

not easy. But I think you have to take each case

individually to be able to decide whether or not it

was the right decision.

 

Q. Mary Joe, you mentioned that so far

you expect the Williams sisters to play Fed Cup

in 2013. Can you speak a little bit more on your

conversations with them, specifically about

Serena. Did you see signs of maturity in her on

and off the court in 2012?

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: To answer your

first part, I’ve spoken to her a couple times about it.

As of now, she says she wants to play. She’s

spending a lot of time in Europe now, in Paris,

where she has an apartment. This is one of the

places that she actually was rooting for that we

would draw because she loves playing in Italy. I

think she sees a challenge.

 

I actually think, from spending the time

with her at Fed Cup and the Olympics last year,

she enjoyed being on a team, the camaraderie she

developed between the players, being the role

model, having someone like Sloane look up to her

and ask her questions. It’s not something you get.

I also understand her time is very valuable and she

doesn’t have every week to be able to devote to

Fed Cup.

 

But I think this fits into her schedule. I

think if she’s healthy, we’re going to see her there.

As regards to Venus, with her it’s a little

tougher because she’s managing her condition.

It’s all going to depend on how she’s doing. She

finished strong at the end of the year winning the

one tournament. I don’t believe she’s playing

anything before Australia, so I think that’s going to

be the big test, to see how she is in Melbourne.

 

Q. Been a while since they’ve played

when there’s no Olympics coming up.

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: That is very true.

We’ll see. Keep our fingers crossed.

But I do believe that Serena mentally –

we’ve seen it before, we saw it again in the second

half of the season – was mentally and physically

superior. I’ve never seen her play as well as she

did at the Olympics start to finish. There were no

down spells at all. There was no irregularity in her

game. She was very focused and determined.

When you get that from her, you see what

she can produce. Was pretty impressive to see

she even finished the season well after not playing

after the Open and won the Championships. She’s

going to continue to be the one to beat. Sets the

bar really high for everybody else. At 31, it’s

almost like she’s 21 again.

 

Q. Jim, what do you think the team

took out of its two road wins on clay? Is that

something that can carry forward to next year?

Secondly, the Bryan brothers, any commitment

to Davis Cup slowing down, both married, Bob

being a father?

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: No signs of

anything but 100% commitment from Bob and Mike

Bryan for Davis Cup. They love it. Honestly my

personal opinion is when they start to wind down

their career, the last thing they will let go of will be

Davis Cup as long as they’re playing the kind of

tennis they’re comfortable with. They just love it

too much. It’s such a showcase for doubles, and

they obviously step up to the plate and play well

when given the opportunity.

As far as clay goes for our team, I don’t

think there is a lot of fear in John Isner or Mardy

Fish as far as playing clay goes. They both like it.

Harkening back to the Andy Roddick era, that was

a surface that was a little less comfortable for Andy

versus the others.

But for 2012, whenever we stepped onto a

clay court, even Ryan Harrison, who stepped in for

Mardy last minute in Monte-Carlo, grew up a bunch

playing on clay down at Bollettieri’s. If you can

slide on the stuff, you can play on it, as long as you

don’t think you can’t. I thought we competed well

on that surface and I don’t think it’s an obstacle for

us at all.

 

Q. You have both seen a lot of parents

in your travels as coaches, players. You had

tennis parents. You will be tennis parents.

Describe to me the ideal tennis parent and the

nightmare tennis parent.

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: From experience

now, I have become a tennis parent. Both my kids

are playing USTA tournaments.

I get a little bit nervous. I didn’t think I

would, but I get nervous watching and not happy

when kids try to bully my kids, or parents get

involved.

 

I don’t remember it being quite as intense

as it is now. It’s very not only competitive, but it

just seems like it’s gone up so many notches in the

intensity, how parents want to live through their

kids. It’s the end all, be all.

My daughter is 10, my son is 8. You

should see, some of these parents think it’s the

finals of Wimbledon every time they go out there.

I think the ideal tennis parent is someone

who makes sure their children are enjoying the

sport, gives them room and space, obviously

support and guidance, but aren’t on top of them

24/7.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: Can I ask a

question about your question?

 

Q. Absolutely.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: When you’re asking

what is an ideal tennis parent, what kind of a result

are you trying to achieve? Are you trying to get a

well-rounded human being or a tennis champion?

 

Q. That’s a very good question. I

would say both, but somebody who doesn’t

quit the sport, too.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: I think it’s hard to

get both. I think you’ll see just from the history of

our sport in this country, which we can speak to,

because MJ and I lived it, there are a lot of

extreme parents out there that have created some

extremely good tennis players. This is a hard sport

to try to balance everything with.

There are exceptions. I think Mary Joe

and I – I’m very biased when I say this – we turned

out to be pretty well-rounded people who have

reasonable perspectives. That’s not always easy

given the complexities of raising a child in a sport

that’s not a team sport, where everything falls on

their shoulders.

 

If you want to raise a champion, I think

history shows you need extreme commitment from

the parents. They’re not the parents who just

watch, they’re the parents who watch and are on

the court every day. They are the Yuri Sharapovs,

Mike Agassis, Richard Williamses of the world who

drive and drive and drive.

 

I’m not saying they’re not well-rounded

people, they all seem to be well-rounded now, but

maybe in the heat of fire maybe they weren’t

earlier in their career. That question is an onion:

you can peel off a lot of different layers and get a

lot of different looks at a right answer.

 

Q. If you are looking at kids who are

maybe USTA ranked 30 in their section, is it

different for them?

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: I think it should be.

You’re not going to make a living playing tennis if

you’re 30 in your section. At that stage it’s

something more about developing character,

learning about yourself, creating skill sets and traits

that will translate into success in other areas of

your life. That’s the way I would look at it if I were

parenting.

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: You’re 100%

right. I look at it from that angle. Just sports in

general, how great it is for children to learn

characteristics that they’re going to need later in

life.

 

But I think so many parents just have this

false sense of what their child, the road they’re

taking, what they can be. You have to start off with

the well-roundedness as the principal goal. If you

see your child is excelling, then that’s the time

where I agree with Jim, you do need someone

committed.

 

I always tell everybody, if my dad didn’t

take me to practice every day or on the weekends,

sign me up for tournaments, I would have stayed

home and watched cartoons. You do need that

commitment and support from a parent. But to me

being well-rounded is a lot more important.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: The last thing I

would add to that from my perspective, too, is

there’s no blanket you can throw over this and say

that this is the way. You’re looking for a silver

bullet that doesn’t exist. Every kid would need

something different from their personality. I wish it

was easy.

 

There’s a lot of people working for the

USTA and other tennis academies out there that

are trying to push kids into being champions.

There’s no blueprint that you can follow. It has to

be done with flexibility based on a personality.

MJ wanted to stay home and watch

cartoons. I was begging my parents to take me.

There’s two different ways to get to the same

place.

 

Q. Mary Joe, if your kids turned out to

be 30 in their section or 50 in their section,

would that be okay with you?

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: That would be

phenomenal. Every time I see them play, they

played a tournament over Thanksgiving together,

I’m so happy. I just can’t believe they actually play,

hit the ball over the net, play points, tell score, the

whole thing.

 

That to me is success right there. It is a

game of a lifetime, as we’ve heard many times.

My goal is for them to know the skill so they can do

whatever they want with it, whether they play at

school or socially, or who knows, maybe their

boyfriend or girlfriend will be a tennis player and

that is going to be a big key in their relationship.

Whatever it may be, tennis fulfills a lot. It’s

been my passion my whole life. It continues to be.

I’m just ecstatic they both like it.

 

Q. Mary Joe, can you talk about how

exciting it is this will be the 50th anniversary of

Fed Cup. I know you always talk about some of

the best memories you have in tennis were

playing Fed Cup. To see the kind of support it

gets now, Fed Cup finals sold out in minutes,

just how far you’ve seen it come.

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: It’s phenomenal

that it is the 50th anniversary. I think they’re trying

to organize a few festivities to celebrate. I played

many years, had great mentors as coaches,

starting with Marty Riessen, Billie Jean King, I had

Martina Navratilova for a year. There’s just a lot of

history that has been passed down, a desire to not

just play for yourself but represent your team and

country, that was big. It continues to be so for me.

It’s great. I love that I’m part of it still and

continue to be able to help and give back as much

as possible.

 

Q. Jim, you touched on this earlier.

But speaking of the first home tie for you guys

in a while, it will also be the first-ever home tie

for John Isner and Sam Querrey, the first time

they’ll play Davis Cup on something other than

clay. Can you talk about that and how that

plays to your team’s strengths.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: First, I’ve not

announced the team. I want to be clear to

everyone that the team probably won’t be

announced until sometime during the Australian

Open when we’re required to announce it.

Hopefully everyone will be healthy and we’ll have

all options on the table.

 

Let’s take a leap and say if John and Sam

are playing, I can tell you they’ll be extremely

excited. These guys have been on the road for all

their ties, as you’ve mentioned, to have a chance

to play at home in a comfortable environment,

particularly for John, seeing as he’s from the

South, seeing as he played college tennis not too

far from Jacksonville in Athens, I think he would be

especially excited to be in that environment and

feel the energy of a crowd behind us as opposed

to pushing against us.

 

So it will be interesting to see whenever

that does take place, interesting to see how they

react to it, because we won’t know until it happens.

Those are special moments for players, no

question about it.

 

Q. Jim, this is the first time that

Jacksonville has hosted a major men’s event.

Obviously it’s hosted other tournaments for

many years. How important is it for a crowd to

be into the match and be supportive of these

players? Are you expecting that Jacksonville

will have that type of crowd that will be behind

these guys?

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: Yes, it is important

that the crowd is behind it. One of the beautiful

pieces of Davis Cup tennis is the partisan crowd

aspect, the atmosphere that’s more like a college

football game, which I know Jacksonville area fans

are well attuned to, given they have the world’s

largest outdoor cocktail party every fall with

Florida/Georgia football. It’s that kind of ambience

that you’re pulling for the United States team that

we anticipate and we certainly desire as a team.

I think certainly there will be plenty of

people in the Jacksonville area that will be present

and participating. I think we’ll also draw from the

region, as Davis Cup typically does, the tennis and

sports fan that want to be part of something that’s

international in scope and has a different flavor to

a normal tennis event.

 

If you’ve never been to Davis Cup, this is

like nothing you’ve ever seen as a tennis fan. I

think people are always partisan once they get in

there and see that it’s okay to scream and shout.

 

Q. Jim, obviously you still have the fire

burning inside you. How do you impart that to

your players? Do you need to impart that to

your players still? Same thing for you, Mary

Joe.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: Kind of along the

lines of what we were talking about as far as

parenting goes, different players require different

things from a coaching standpoint. I think we also

have to keep in mind that all these players have

their day-to-day coaches and teams, and Mary Joe

and I are very supplementary to that.

Speaking for myself, working with the

Bryan brothers, there’s not a whole lot I need to

bring to the table. They’re super energetic,

professional and polished. They’re very

systematic. They know what they’re doing.

There’s no question marks for me to get in there

and say, Hey, you guys want to change this

routine. Far be it for me to tell them how to do their

job. They’re the best at what they do.

For players like John, Sam and Ryan that

are still evolving as tennis players, there’s a little

more interaction and it can vary based on how they

absorb information.

Working with Mardy Fish and Andy

Roddick, who were more experienced, a little bit

more in the Bryan brothers camp, they know

exactly what they need, they know where they

need to go to get where they’re going, there’s less

information that’s required.

I think it’s a learning curve for everyone as

far as how to impart information and when to leave

well enough alone from my standpoint.

I can’t speak to MJ, but I would imagine

her experience has been a little similar to mine.

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: Totally. That’s

the hardest thing in the year or two, is to really

learn the personalities, who needs to be told what,

when and how much. How much do you push,

how much do you not push. It’s a balance. After a

time, you sort of learn what triggers the right

response from the players.

For me, it’s really trying to get the most

quality when you’re there. We’re there a limited

time. We’re not their main coaches, like Jim said.

We try to give them the best advice and get the

most out of them.

 

Every time they get on the court, they have

to have a purpose, they have to have a plan of

what they’re trying to achieve when they’re out

there. It’s more quality than quantity. Some of my

players want to practice 10 hours a day. I have to

pull them back and say no so they’re fresh. Others

want to practice less, so you have to push them to

practice more.

 

It’s a learning curve. But the more time

you spend with different personalities, the more

you’re aware of what you need to say and not say.

 

TIM CURRY: I want to thank everyone for

joining us, and thank Jim and Mary Joe for their

time. Hope everybody has a good day. Thank

you.

 

CAPTAIN FERNANDEZ: Thanks,

everyone.

 

CAPTAIN COURIER: Thank you.

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