Ebden Hires McNamara As Coach

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 18th December 2012

Ebden Hires McNamara As Coach

epa03239793 Matthew Ebden of Australia returns to Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany during their first round match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 28 May 2012. EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG |

Australia is desperate for some positive energy from its’ male tennis ranks and Matt Ebden, ranked 61 in the world last October but currently back outside the top 100, has taken the constructive step of appointing former top tenner Peter McNamara has his new coach.

McNamara, the 57 year-old from Melbourne who was force at both singles and doubles and was one half of the Super Macs alongside Paul McNamee, had been looking for a new coaching role for some time after first splitting with the highly rated Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov a year ago and then ending his deal with the Patrick Mouratoglou Tennis Academy.

He replaces Darren Tandy as coach of 25 year-old Ebden who was born in South Africa but was raised in Perth and made his Davis Cup debut for Australia last February after winning a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games.

The new player/coach combination share a determination to raise the profile of Australian men’s tennis following the natural downturn in Lleyton Hewitt’s career because of age and injury and too much adverse publicity centered on Bernard Tomic.

McNamara, who won three Grand Slam doubles titles alongside McNamee and remains an active contestant on the ATP Champions Tour, said: “Australian tennis is not at the highest point it could be at the moment, so there’s an opportunity for Matt to put his name out there to become somebody in tennis.

” “He has a chance because he doesn’t really have a weakness and that’s a nice situation to be in, as it means he can build on what he’s got. We’ll take a more professional attitude towards building to the top 30 in the world and I think that’s where he can make.

“There’s no difference between anyone outside the top six and the next 100: they’re all very similar. Matt’s one of the guys who can make a jump if he puts his head down and pushes his limits.”

Newly married Ebden believes McNamara’s experience, allied to sheer hard work, could see him become Australia ’s leading player before too long and said: “Peter really knows what it takes to not just be a top 50 player, but to build to a top 30 or top 20 player.

“He’s not a magician though and it’s going to take the hard work and the hard yards to make improvements. When I first spoke with Peter, I told him I’m not the kind of person that likes to mess around with things.

“Life’s short, I could be doing a million things, and I’m not in tennis to hang around a mark less than where I’ve been. I want to really have a go at it and take on a new task, a new challenge and a new adventure.

“It’s going to be challenging and I’m going to have to dig deep, but I’m not going to die wondering and I’m going to put everything into it.”