By Chris Oddo/ Friday, January 3, 2014
Sloane Stephens and Paul Annacone have made their pairing official. Does that mean that Stephens is on the way up?
Photo Source: AFP
After a trial this winter in Los Angeles, supertalent Sloane Stephens and supercoach Paul Annacone have announced what could be the beginning of an elite pairing in 2014.
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With Annacone's duties with 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer finished, and Stephens tiring of sharing her coach David Nainkin with Sam Querrey in a rather unconventional agreement, Annacone tells USA Today's Doug Robson that the time is right for both.
"I think what I'm going to be able to bring to Sloane is that fact I've kind of been at the top of the tennis game and have been working with some terrific champions over the years. I do know that every personality is different. I do know that genders are different. I do know that ages make a big difference. But there are a lot of commonalities to excellence. I feel pretty comfortable with the reference and experience that I have to address those commonalities and to make sure that I help set up a dynamic where Sloane is most likely to be successful."
Annacone, 50, is best-known for working with male tennis luminaries Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, but he's confident that working with the World No. 12, who has yet to reach a WTA final, will not be too much of a stretch for him. "The good news is that I have a 20-year-old daughter," Annacone told Robson.
According to Robson, Annacone will join Stephens next week at the Australian Open tune-up event at Sydney. Here's what he had to say about the challenge:
"It's one thing to practice. It's another to be around a player and see their dynamics on the road – what happens in off time, how they handle adversity, how they handle hours in hotel rooms, how they handle stress. I think she is a really good kid with a good heart and an abundance of talent. Now it's nose to the grindstone and keep working."