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Craig Boynton has worked with a plethora of top players including former World No. 1 Jim Courier, Mardy Fish and John Isner. In 2016, the American began a new phase of his career, setting out on the ATP World Tour with two American stars — Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson — at the same time.

Both Querrey and Johnson have achieved career-high spots in the ATP Rankings under the tutelage of Boynton, with recent New York Open finalist Querrey climbing to No. 11 and Johnson reaching No. 21 in July 2016.

ATPWorldTour.com catches up with the American coach to learn how working with two players changes his routine, whether he uses a different approach with both players and more.

What is it like for you to balance coaching two elite players on the ATP World Tour?
It starts with organisation, making sure that the day is organised, making sure that I am 100 per cent able to be with Sam and Stevie when they’re practising and hitting. So I’ve got to be very organised. I also don’t like them practising together, so I have to make sure they each have the hits required for that next day and managing their needs so that they both are taken care of regardless if it’s match day or practice day.

How different is your approach to coaching both Sam and Steve?
It’s different. You look at Sam and Stevie and there are a lot of similarities, and you think that they’re a lot alike, but there are a lot of differences with the two. Being able to effectively communicate with each of them in a way that’s best for them. That just comes from getting to know them, and I know them for a long period of time and pushing the right buttons.

How did you start working with both of them? Was that your idea or their idea?
At the time I was coming off a private situation and Stevie and I had talked about getting back together because we originally had a year and a half working together when I was with USTA Player Development. Stevie was one of my players that I had my whole time there, so we had a history. So at that point, Sam was looking for someone and Sam went and talked to Stevie to make sure that it was in good graces with Stevie. They presented it to me, I thought it was a great idea and I thought I would have no problem being able to manage the two, because when I was with the USTA I always had two players (and at one tournament I had five). So I knew how to manage that situation. It was something that wasn’t new to me, and having the luxury of knowing Sam for probably 10 years — not working with him, but I knew him very well — we were both comfortable with each other. I had obviously worked with Stevie for a year and a half, and so it really wasn’t an adjustment at the beginning.

What is a day like for you? How hectic does it get?
The ATP has been really good, excellent about making sure they don’t play singles at the same time. So at that point it’s whoever plays first, making sure that they’re ready, the details, and it depends how much time I have in between. For instance if one plays first on and the other plays second on, then the pre-match speech for whoever plays second will generally happen before the first person goes on. But if there’s a match in between then I know there’s time in between and so then we’ll get our tactics and our speech done after the first match. So again, it’s just about seeing what the schedule has and organising accordingly.

When they have their morning hit, do you like them hitting together?
No, I like to keep them separate. Sometimes it happens where I’ll miss a warm-up. But Christian, the physio, is here. Christian will take them to the court. He can fill in that way. But the guys have been around long enough that they know what to do. They don’t necessarily need their hand held for warm-ups. But it’s always good to be able to go over tactics and the pre-match speech during warm-ups, so we do the best we can. But like I said, the ATP has been really, really good about making sure that they’re not playing at the same time and that there’s no overlap.

If one of the guys is having a great week but the other goes out early, how do you balance dealing with both situations?
Whoever is still in the tournament, the other works around their schedule. So the matches and the tournament are priority for whoever is still in it. They know that, so it’s just working around that. Often times for both, the one who’s out will probably go early and go to the next event to get ready and I can organise practices remotely, or the USTA will have coaches there and I’ll talk to them and they’ll keep an eye on them. I’ll stay with the one who’s still competing in the tournament.

What’s the most fun part of this all for you?
First of all, I love the guys. I absolutely love Sam and Stevie, they are tremendous guys, tremendous to work with. I just love these guys. I enjoy helping them. Aside from them, the most fun for me is watching what we work on and what we try to develop with them come good on match day. Have it help them win an important point, which is pivotal, and then winning a big match. That to me is so much fun.

Do they help each other with that? Does one of them see the other doing well and get motivated by that?
I think so. They’re very big supporters of each other. They both understand what it takes to be successful. The boys have had highs and lows and they both have been there for both highs and lows. They’re really good friends. Like I said, they’re great people, a lot of fun to work with, just because they’re wonderful people. These are two guys you want as neighbours, aside from tennis.

Ivan Lendl może zostać nowym trenerem Alexandra Zvereva. Były szkoleniowiec Andy’ego Murraya przyglądał się grze Niemca podczas Miami Open.

Ivan Lendl mieszka obecnie na Florydzie. Podczas tegorocznego turnieju w Miami obserwował poczynania Alexandra Zvereva, który w finale przegrał z Johnem Isnerem. Według informacji dziennikarzy Lendl może zostać nowym trenerem 20-letniego Niemca.

Karierę Alexandra Zvereva cały czas nadzoruje jego ojciec. Zawodnik nawiązuje również współpracę z wybitnymi postaciami świata tenisa. Niedawno jego trenerem był Juan Carlos Ferrero, jednak panowie rozstali się w nie najlepszej atmosferze po zakończeniu Australian Open. Hiszpan zarzucał swojemu podopiecznemu brak profesjonalizmu, a Niemiec wytykał byłemu mistrzowi Roland Garros brak szacunku do całego teamu.

Ivan Lendl ma na koncie udaną współpracę z Andym Murrayem. Jako trener doprowadził Szkota do trzech zwycięstw w turniejach wielkoszlemowych, w których Alexander Zverev nie odnosi zadowalających wyników. Być może przyszła współpraca z Lendlem pomogłaby mu w pokonaniu bariery 1/8 finału w wielkich szlemach.

Coach
2018

Aussie had a huge week in Miami, steering John Isner and the Bryan brothers to success, before heading back to George Washington University

David Macpherson had a successful playing career on the ATP World Tour, claiming 16 tour-level doubles titles and climbing as high as No. 11 in the ATP Doubles Rankings. But perhaps the Australian has been even more impressive since as a coach.

Macpherson worked with doubles legends Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan for more than a decade (2005-2016) before accepting the job as head coach of the men's tennis team at George Washington University. However, Macpherson still gets to some tournaments to work with the Bryans and John Isner, who on Sunday became the oldest first-time winner at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event.

ATPWorldTour.com caught up with Macpherson to find out how he balanced working with Isner and the Bryans, as they both made incredible runs in Miami, how differently they prepare for matches and what the key was for all of them to triumph.

How does it feel to have coached both the singles and doubles winners at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event?
Just so proud of all three of them. So happy for all three of them. For Mike and Bob it had been a little while. Despite winning 114 titles it had been a little while since they’d won one. For John it was his first-ever Masters 1000 shield, so that was extra special. It was just a weekend, a great two weeks of magical times.

How were you able to balance working with all three guys during such a big event?
The schedule worked out really well. [Tournament Director] James Blake was terrific with the schedule. He did his best to work with the ATP to see that the Bryans and John weren’t playing at the same time. My coaching partner, Dave Marshall, who has been doing most of the traveling with the Bryans all year, really, he was there with me in Miami. So when we occasionally had a practice conflict, he was able to help me. I certainly had a partner down there making life easier for me.

How careful were you to make sure you had individual time with all of them?
Oh yes, definitely. John needed to work on his things for singles and his next opponent. The Bryans had to work on doubles things and for their next opponent. So we did two practice sessions every day, getting different sparring partners to try to provide the best, most productive practice. It all fell into place. But like I said, my partner Dave Marshall has been doing most of the traveling with the Bryans and he was key to making it all run smoothly.

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It must be tricky to work with both a singles player and a doubles team at the same event, so how do you approach your time with each when they can be quite different skill sets?
With the doubles practice, many times, you get two good sparring partners or doubles players and we do doubles drills, play doubles points and work on the shots that you need for doubles. And then with John, you get a different sparring partner and do singles drills and the things you need to play well in singles. It’s just a little bit of a different type of practice with the drills we do, depending on who it is. They’re different, but they’re the same, too. So much of it is the mental side of the game and in singles and doubles the same principles apply. Relaxation, confidence, trust and all of those things, one translates to the other (singles to doubles) pretty much the same way.

Speaking of the mental side, the Bryans had won 36 Masters 1000 titles and John was going for his first. So how differently did you approach speaking to them ahead of the finals?
It’s like two completely different situations. Mike and Bob had won so many, that winning Miami was something they knew they had done before. But when you haven’t done it for a while and you’re almost 40 years old, you want to grasp the opportunity while you can, so it’s a difficult mental challenge. For John, he’s won a lot of titles, but he hadn’t won a Masters 1000, so that was a difficult mental thing for him. The key was for both to focus on the task at hand, just focusing on playing the best match that they could, trying to play the smartest match they could based on the opponent they were playing and not to think about the result. Thinking about the result could get in the way sometimes.

Speaking of results, John hadn’t had the best of starts to the year before arriving in Miami, and he credited some dinners with you for the turnaround. What do you think helped him turn his year around?
He hadn’t been playing badly, but he hadn’t been playing as freely and having as much fun on the court as you need to to play well in the big moments. That was something we really worked hard on mentally before the tournament, just trying to talk through that and understanding what he needed to be thinking about on the court to help him relax. So, I think we really did a good job. We talked through it together as a team and when he was out there this was the calmest that he’s played and the most aggressively that he’s played in the big moments. He handled adversity really well this week. When he was in trouble, he didn’t panic or let the frustration get the better of him. So that was really the big difference. Now he knows what could be accomplished if mentally he’s right and now he has the confidence [to win the big events] and hopefully there will be more big results like that in the future.

Just how big of a difference can it make to play relaxed and freely?
It’s a cliche and it sounds so simple, but it’s true. We all know that when we’re relaxed, the talent flows through our body, even recreationally. If you’re out there having fun playing golf and the expectations are down, it’s amazing how well even a hack like me can play. If you’re tense and you care too much and you’re thinking about the result, if you think about losing too much and you freeze up, your footwork goes, your timing goes, your thinking goes. Really, you can’t overstress the importance of being relaxed. I think you have to look at Roger [Federer]’s renaissance in tennis to his No. 1 recovery to see how he’s been able to master those emotions. We’re trying to follow, emulate, copy or at least learn from how he’s done it.

Read: Bryan Brothers Capture 37th Masters 1000 Title

How different were your pep talks with the Bryans and with John before their respective finals?
Everyone’s different. John and I do most of our preparation the night before, just talking and going through the possibilities and everything, the scenarios and tactics. And then on match day we really just focus on being relaxed and keeping that relaxation factor high. Mike and Bob, we do a little bit more the day of. We talk about the strategy a bit more before the match. Like, the hour before, we go over what the tactics are and what the mission is so they like a bit more right before the match, they like to go over it and delve into it, get themselves psyched up. If you watch them play, you know Mike and Bob are just a bundle of energy out there, bouncing around, whereas John’s more about just being relaxed, methodical and in rhythm. So it’s just two different styles of going about it.

Now you’re going back to George Washington University where you’re a second-year head coach. With everything you’ve done in the sport over the years, how do you go from working to a college team to going to one of the biggest events on the Tour and helping those guys win a title and how much does the college coaching help?
I appreciate how great a job college coaches around America do. It’s obviously so much more than just coaching tennis. I have a great appreciation and respect for college coaches, because you really have to multi-task and you’re in charge of a lot of different things and players and there’s so much that goes into it. I feel very fortunate to be the head coach at one of America's most prestigious universities. I love coaching college tennis and have an amazing bond with my players and fellow coaches at George Washington University.

In the pros, you just have one or sometimes two clients, so it’s certainly different. I have a great assistant at GW, Damian Farinola, who held down the fort for a couple of weeks while I was away, managing practice… It gives you a little bit more of a freshness, I suppose. I really appreciated getting down to Miami to work with Mike, Bob and John. It’s challenging when you do it week after week after week, to keep being inspirational and keep coming up with new ideas. John has two other awesome coaches, Justin Gimelstob and Rene Moller, so we’re all just combining to try to do the best job we can for John. And like I said, Dave Marshall is with the Bryan Brothers, so it’s really working well. I really get extra fired up when I get back out there on the pro Tour and hopefully it bodes well for the college guys as well.