Art of picking practice partners isn’t easy task
WASHINGTON — When secondseeded Kei Nishikori and third-seeded Milos Raonic walked onto stadium court at the Citi Open to practice with each other Monday morning, they knew they could end up facing each other later in the week, and they chose to do so in sake of good preparation.
Before that, the No. 2-ranked woman in the world, Simona Halep, chose to hit with fellow Romanian Patricia Maria Tig, the 134th-ranked player, saying she was willing to hit with anyone who was available. Jack Sock, the top-seeded American, picked his practice partner, Nick Kyrgios, because of their close friendship.
There is no hard-and-fast rule for choosing practice partners; it varies by individual. Such is the unique nature of tennis, where players even warm up with their opponents before matches. Choosing a practice partner can be strategic or not. Some players value hitting with their friends as much as they do preparing to play a left-handed hitter.
"I usually just practice with my closer friends, that's usually how it goes," said Sock, who takes the more relaxed approach when it comes to picking partners. "[My] coach will ask me maybe with who I want to practice with, but I'll just practice with one of my buddies like John (Isner) or Nick (Kyrgios) or somebody like that."
The first step to securing practice partners is paying a visit to Alex Cordier, down the stairs and in the bowels of stadium court. Here, Cordier has been the practice courts coordinator at the Citi Open for 15 years. His days consist of filling out paper spreadsheets as he pieces together a practice time for each player at the tournament. And it's not an easy task.
"That's why it's in pencil," Cordier said. "It is crazy because it changes a lot."
For a handful of big-name players at the Citi Open, they have been practicing against equally ranked opponents, causing daily crowds to gather around the courts, waiting for the next big name to stroll on by. On Monday, there were plenty of big practice court pairings, including top-seeded Dominic Thiem and fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov on Grandstand 1.
Unlike Sock, defending Citi Open champion Gael Monfils said his coach handles all of his practice schedules, as he tries to figure out who is playing well, when he can practice with them and which hours work best. Threetime Citi Open champion Juan Martin del Potro said he has his own sparring partner for practice, but he enjoys practicing against the other players in the beginning of the tournament. Hitting partners aren't uncommon on the tour as some players bring them to tournaments as part of their team.
Whether players have chosen partners or not, they can't randomly choose a practice court and play whenever they want. It's Cordier's job to manage the times and locations and scheduling the courts during prime times can get tricky. The rule is that top-seeded players don't get any priority or special advantage when it comes to choosing practice courts and times. Only players who have a match that particular day get the advantage and sometimes, that doesn't go over well.
"If we are fully booked, [players] will start nagging and say it's not fair, so I've realized over the years you have to forget the names and be fair," Cordier said. "At the end of the day if you are fair, they all understand. Though, they might be [ticked] off in the beginning."
As for choosing specific players to practice against, Cordier said players routinely discuss it among themselves, like Sock does with Isner and Kyrgios, but often if they don't have a specific player in mind they will write down that they are "looking."
Sometimes, players will write down they are looking for a right-hander, left-hander or someone on the opposite side of the draw. But often times, Cordier said player requests aren't that common - they just need someone who can hit. It's usually the coaches who are the most "fussy," and the players will usually go along with whatever works best for their schedule.