Q&A: LARRY STEFANKI

Stefanki signs on to coach Henman

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

MASON, OH., AUGUST 13 – Not long after reaching the Wimbledon semifinal for a third time, but failing to ever advance further, Briton Tim Henman contacted Larry Stefanki about the possibility of starting a coaching relationship. Henman had ended an almost nine-year relationship with David Felgate during the spring and Stefanki had just terminated a coaching partnership with two-time Grand Slam champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

The Henman and Stefanki partnership is now three weeks old, including a first week of practice in London. The new pairing has seen Henman reach the semifinal at the Tennis Masters Series-Cincinnati this week where he lost to Gustavo Kuerten 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-4).

Stefanki, a 44-year-old American, who played on the circuit and reached a career high ranking of No. 35 in 1985, has a sterling reputation as a no-nonsense coach with strong tactical skills. It was as a wildcard entry and the No. 143 ranked player in the world that Stefanki won the La Quinta title in 1985 and his ranking skyrocketed to No. 35 by week’s end. In terms of his coaching career, he is greatly admired for his ability to work with some of the strongest personalities in the game, previously coaching John McEnroe and Marcelo Rios before Kafelnikov. Stefanki, the father of three, is married to Football Hall of Famer John Brodie’s daughter, Kellie. His brother-in-law is Atlanta Falcons quarterback Chris Chandler.

Stefanki agreed to a small chat session with a select group of four new organizations, including a tennisreporters.net writer, in the players lounge this week at the TMS-Cincinnati tournament.

Q: What was your reaction when Tim rang you about the possibility of a coaching relationship?
Larry Stefanki: Excited, I think we’re a good match, a good fit because I've always appreciated Tim's style in the sense of tennis and the way he represents himself as a professional tennis player. He's a first class act and that's basically the initial reacation I had.

Q: Where do you think you can help Tim in way of a coaching relationship?
Stefanki: Well, I think Tim's fluctuated in the style of play he wants to play on a consistent basis. He's sometimes vacillating on whether he's going to be a serve-volleyer, a baseliner: kind of a combination of both, and I think he needs to develop that. I've always envisioned him as an offensive, aggressive player not just a guy sitting and waiting for something good to happen. I've seen him play quite a bit since he turned pro and seen him develop and I see him more deciding that he's going to have an attacking aggressive style and take any opportunity to get to the net. Because after working with him for just two and a half weeks I've been very, very impressed with his speed and abilities for his size; his endurance and his athleticism. I was impressed and I've watched him just as an outsider coach – I've always been pretty good friends with Tim and I kept an eye sideways watching him because he has a similar style to the way I played. But at a higher level, obviously. But that's what I've always appreciated about Tim.
It’s something that I'm trying to impress on him: developing an aggressive style, serve-volley, any short ball, be all over it, get to the net, end the point. He's not a baseliner.

Q: You’ve worked with some of the more difficult players on the tour – John McEnroe, Marcelo Rios and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Is it fair to assume that with Tim you might not necessarily need your psychological skills?
Stefanki: Like I said, his style speaks for itself. He's a first class act. Hopefully we have more, as a partnership, I can bring him to where he can gain a lot of confidence that what he's doing is right. Even if there are some lumps in the road – and there are always lumps in the road getting to the top level – you have to believe in yourself, you have to believe in your ability and you cannot, when it gets rocky so to speak, look for an easy way out. There are no easy ways. He's worked very hard on his ground strokes – he can play defense and riposte very well from the base line – but he has to have his instincts focused on being an attacking aggressive player at all times. And you have to be very fit for that and after spending two or three weeks with him, he's impressed me a lot for the level of guys on this tour.

Q: Do you have any thoughts on how he handles the pressure his country puts on him to succeed?
Stefanki: I think he handles that as good as any guy I've ever been around. He's a pretty laid back guy and he doesn't carry the burden of England on his shoulders in any way. I think he really feels he's not touched the tip of the iceberg so to speak, he's been ranked about 10 or 15 for quite some time and he is really eager to get to that top echelon of top four. And I don't see any reason why he can't because he's very eager. In my opinion the sky's the limit for him. He's not satisfied at all. The psychology part of it: he's a grown man, he knows what he wants, he knows what he wants to attain in this game. I think he can do it with that style because that style is a dying breed – Rafter is thinking about leaving. And that style, with the way guys play, is a good style to have to counteract what they do well.

Q: How long do you think it will take for your partnership to get Tim to where he wants to go in the game?
Stefanki: In my entire life I've never put any type of time frame on anything, however long it takes. Just over the last two weeks of talking about it, of the way I envision and the way he envisions himself playing, I think he has a good sense of what he wants. And it's up to him. He's the horse. That's always the way I view it that it's up to Tim. That determination I see in his eyes, the eagerness – there's no time frame, I never put a time on anything. Even when I played, whatever time it takes. I don't care if he's 27 years old, 30 years old, even Goran (Ivanisevic): he'll get there. It's just whenever everything falls into place, the puzzle falls into place so to speak, good things happen. If you keep working hard, you keep believing in your style, you're always working on ways to get better. That's what great athletes do, they are always looking no matter how good: (Michael) Jordan, Tiger Woods. You see these guys, they are always tinkering on a little – it's such a fine line – tinkering and trying to get better. That's what professional sports is all about. Tim's a thinker of the game, he's always wondering “How can I get better.”

Q: Did you ever think to contact Tim first about being his coach when you stopped working with Yevgeny and he stopped working with David Felgate after nine years?
Stefanki: No, I knew that he wanted to be solo for a time. He's never been solo. I think that has helped him an awful lot to develop as person and as a player and like I say, he is the horse. He has to hit the balls, no one else can do that for him. I think he's matured in that sense over the last four or five months being on his own, having to make decisions on his own, being with his wife and his trainer – Kieron Vorster – I think he's had time to think about it and it's actually helped him. He was not going to make any decisions until after Wimbledon and when Yevy and I parted ways, I was not going back on the tour for a job. I've got three kids of my own. It would have to be something very special and Tim happened to be that special guy for me to do that. That’s because I've been doing this since 79, being full time on the tour.

So it's not easy, it's a big commitment and you want the guy to take you on, because you're going to be gone 30 weeks of the year. And that's not easy. And Tim's very eager, very dedicated, very determined – those qualities are something that I look for. You know, if you take (John McEnroe) Mac away from it because Mac and I have been childhood friends since we were 14, 15 years old so that's a total different situation, and:Tim is on the same page as I am when it comes to the work aspect, the way he handles himself and all of those qualities.

Q: What do you demand from your players?
Stefanki: I try not to demand anything (from a player). What I look for in taking on a job is … er … talent, what’s their athletic talent, what’s their level, what I see watching them play, their ability basically. Can they get to that next echelon of being the top five in the world. That's what I:. I know it's high standard, kind of blows people out of the water, that's what I look for. Whether or not they take the ball early, what their style is. I like people who take the ball early and are coming into the forecourt of the tennis court and trying to capitalize on opportunities. Not waiting for something good to happen. At the highest level that can't be overrated because there's no free lunches. If you want to get to the top level then you've got to go after it and take it. And movement, I'm a big believer in movement and balance. If you can't move from the waist down in this game then it's very limiting unless you're averaging two aces a game. I look for balance, preparation - I believe the game is played from the waist down.

Q: There is an impression of Tim being stubborn - how do you find him?
Stefanki: I find him an absolute breath of fresh air. It's been a very worthwhile two and a half weeks for both of us and I'm really stubborn too. I have fixed viewpoints on what I think needs to be done. Tim knows, he hasn't been in that top four - that's what he's striving for: winning a slam, being in that top echelon. So he communicates very well and, listen, if he doesn't disagree with you then he wouldn't be a top athlete. All great athletes are going to question, and want to know why you are saying that and that's perfectly okay. And if you don't know, then that's just words into the air, so to speak. So I expect that from great athletes, that's never worried me. From where I am, the way I was raised, I've been around a lot of top athletes, they all do that. That's a great quality. That's stubborness. I never try to deter that. You have to be determined, you have to be a little stubborn, you have to be focused:that intensity can't really wane, kind of like something you wake up with in the morning. You know this guy – compared to what I've had [laughter] – he's a breath of fresh air.

Q: Who was your greatest challenge of your past clients?
Stefanki: There were so many different dynamics to each one: John was at the end of his career, ranked 38 and Agassi beat him two and one in an exhibition and we hit off from that point on. And then he got to the quarters at the Australian and the semis at Wimbledon, got back into the top 10 and he said “My goal is to win a slam”that year when he was 33 years old – I worked with him two years. After that year, we hugged and he said, ìI quit.î I've admired him a lot more from that day on in the sense of never coming back and try to play on the ATP tour, no matter how many times he says he's going to come back.

Marcelo was different. When we started out he was at 125 in the world. I did leave him for about a year, 10 months to a year, when he was ranked like 20 or 16, something like that. So, basically, I was with him all the way from 125 to No 1. Marcelo, had the dynamics of an offensive player and he had the luxury of being a lefty. So he was lucky, he would never have been close to being the same player if he had been a righty, being that short. He's like [Rod] Laver's size. He needed that element of being a lefty. But he took the ball early, he saw the court, saw the angles totally differently from a lot of the young kids coming out of the juniors. He didn't play power and he was a totally different dynamic. But he had a lot of baggage so to speak. Yevgeny was kind of like between 12 and 14 in the rankings and wanting to semi retire – which he always was brings up. We hit it off well because of his style as well. He took the ball early, he was very sound and that was more of trying to get him back on track to the way he played when he won the French four years earlier.

It's not easy at any level, you just got to work every day and you're always, like I always say, you're going to tell me to just please shut up. But it's the kind of thing where you have to reiterate every day what style you are looking for. If it doesn't cut it, you've got to be willing to say: that doesn't cut it. Without feeling like the guy is going to say “Get lost.” And that has happened to me, people say get lost. It's all difficult – you just have to believe in what you're saying, which direction you're going and go with it 100 per cent. And that's it. You're in the trenches together, but he's got to hit the balls. That's why I'm a big believer: It's not really about me, it's about him putting it all together and doing it himself. He's got to be very determined, single-minded, independent to get to that point. And that's a fact. It's an individual game. So that's the deal.