By Yury Bettoni | Saturday, June 29, 2019

 

Young Roger Federer, player and coach Yury Bettoni and Peter Lundgren, Federer's former coach.

Photo credit: Yury Bettoni 

Jogging to the Miami Open practice courts, I ran into the Tennis Now team.

They asked me one question: Name my five favorite moments from my time coaching Mary Pierce, Jeff Tarango and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. And traveling the world alongside Sven Groeneveld, when he served as head of the Swiss Tennis Federation, and a very promising and funny young player named Roger Federer.

Well, to be honest there are too many anecdotes that have happened in my 25 years of traveling the tour to narrate in an article. Some are funny, some are risque and some others simply cannot be repeated.

What I can say with joy and pride is that tennis life with its moments, experiences, and unusual situations definitely has brought many of us, whether we are players, coaches, umpires or officials from the world tour organization, together as one big extended family.

Of course, it wouldn’t be tennis, or family, without a few heated moments from time to time.

1. When Player and Coach Nearly Come to Blows

During my time coaching Jeff Tarango, there was a huge argument with his opponent Felix Mantilla during their second round the tournament in Boston. During a point Jeff hits a let and wins the point, while he is pumping his fist, someone from the crowd close to me shouts, “Great shot Jeff!”

For whatever reason, Felix goes completely crazy on me, probably thinking I was the one that said that, walks towards the players’ box and starts cursing in Spanish at me. Right away we get into a huge fight.

Actually, in retrospect, it was funny because the American crowd was a little amused as they didn’t understand the cause of the outburst or what he was saying to me. But clearly Felix was losing it as Jeff was beating him badly. I think that sometimes stuff like this is entertaining for our sport. Crowds enjoys heated arguments, it’s part of life, makes the game real and reminds us all that these are very passionate and committed athletes.

2. Sneak Attack By Roger

During the 2013 Italian Open, I was walking from the downstairs players' gym into the tunnel alley, and from behind I get jumped and hit lightly with a stick.

I turned around and there was Roger Federer, laughing with that face that he puts up every time he wants to create a reaction. We had a few minutes of bunting back-and-forth, the security guards did not know what to think or do, it was funny!

I said to Roger, “Hey Rog! you never change ha?!”

“Big Y! Certain things must not change!” Roger said with a big grin.

That sentence says so much about Roger and his character.

Despite his massive global fame and success, Roger is still humble and appreciative of his old friendships.


Sven Groeneveld, Roger Federer, Peter Carter and Yury Bettoni (left to right)

3. The Birth of "That Wicked Slice"

About “that wicked slice,” which is how Roger used to call our slice backhand duels.

During my time in the Swiss Federation as a player, Roger would always mimic my slice in a sarcastic, but appreciative way. Whether we were practicing or he was watching me playing, he'd sometimes make "that wicked slice" observation.

There was something about my backhand slice that he always loved. Maybe it was that quick movement before the impact with the ball, or maybe it was the inside-out jumping spin effect it had on the ball, I don’t know, but he loved it!

I was pleased that at some level I could have been an inspiration for him, but I would always tell him, “Rog! You don’t even realize where one day you will be as a tennis player and what your slice will be!"

When I watch Roger play these days, I smile when I see "that wicked slice!" 

4. Friend Forever: Mary Pierce

One of the most beautiful things about the tennis life are the friendships formed. I can say that thanks to tennis, I have cultivated great friendships that still live strong and deep.

Mary Pierce, who will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame next month, has been like family to me.

Through our friendship we experienced a lot of personal ups and downs, but we helped each other and that allowed us to build a strong bond as individuals and with our families as well.




During the 2019 Miami Open we got to spend a fair amount of time together. She turned to me and said “Yury, I've been seeing on your socials stuff about this visual tennis pattern, the Y-System, it amazes me how athletic you still are and how you were able to put so much tennis knowledge together in the most simple way. You are up to something very interesting and innovative for tennis movements.”

That was definitely a landmark comment coming from not only a friend but from a Hall of Fame champion who has done so much for our tennis world.

5. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario Forgotten in Miami

My last anecdote just happened at the 2019 Miami Open. Taking into consideration the new generation kids coming up, and that there is a lack of knowledge in tennis history—knowing who tennis legends are today.

After all, tennis is where it is now because of the history they made, and a lot of times it is unknown or unrecognized. That's sad.


Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Yury Bettoni

Talking to several teenagers, most of them did not even know who Mary Pierce or Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario are!

Nothing!

While walking the Miami Open grounds during a hot day I hear a voice calling, "Yury!"

I look over and it was Aranxta, dressed up in normal clothes with her family, no credential badge, nothing. She had bought daily tickets to watch matches with her kids.

I was shocked, a two-time Miami champion, a Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 buying tickets and absolutely no one recognizing her.

I remember walking off practice at tournaments with four or five bodyguards and hundreds of people turning to reach over for her autograph or picture. And here she was, with her family, people walking by and not a single fan recognizing her.

Probably, it’s a sign that tennis history is not preserved properly and is not marketed as other more popular sports. Nowdays especially the young teenage bracket seem to care more about the on court player’s meltdowns then the actual quality of play, leading a young future generation striving to appear as what they perceive as “cool” on and off the court by following the footsteps of current players that are just a very bad example for the sport.

But, hey, they sell tickets!

Yury Bettoni is a former Italian-American professional tennis player with a unique entrepreneurial mind. Since 2014, he has been a business partner in Italkraft and a real estate investor. He developed the Y-System, a culmination of his life experience in tennis and product development. Yury trained for many years at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and has been featured in the HBO series Ballers.