“They’ve been there from the start, so thank you very much.”
Looking up to his player box inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sept. 10, 2012, those were the final words an emotional Andy Murray spoke before lifting the US Open trophy, his first Grand Slam title.
Murray’s team featured some familiar faces that blustery Monday evening, including new coach Ivan Lendl, Murray’s mother Judy and then-fiancée-now-wife Kim Sears. But a player’s entourage and support team runs much deeper than one or two people and often consists of a large team working behind the scenes to help a player fulfil their goals.
Players often thank their team immediately after a victory, both publicly and again behind closed doors, and it’s commonplace to hear a player congratulate not only their opponent, but their opponent’s team who helped them get to that position.
In 2016, a dedicated support team is now the status quo, especially among the top players who can afford to travel with a full-time staff.
At this year’s US Open, for example, Murray is joined by coach Lendl, assistant coach Jamie Delgado, physio Mark Bender, fitness specialist Teresina Goheen and strength and conditioning coach Matt Little, the longest-serving member of Murray’s team; he has has been by Murray's side for a decade.
His mom and wife are still there, of course, along with mother-in-law Leonore Sears, managing director of Murray’s management company Matt Gentry and Great Britain Davis Cup coach Leon Smith. From the sponsorship side of things, Under Armour’s chief executive Kevin Plank attended Murray’s first match against Lukas Rosol, and Under Armour’s vice president of golf and tennis Kevin Ross and senior category director of golf and tennis Ryan Kuehl are also credentialed at this year’s Open.
That’s all before the personal friends and guest list gets accommodated in his box, and doesn’t include people like nutritionist Glenn Kearney, fitness trainer Steve Cotze and physio Shane Annun, who works with the team about 10 weeks a year but did not travel to New York.
“I mean, obviously not everyone in here sees all of the stuff that goes on away from the court in terms of the training that you do and, you know, I guess the physical sort of suffering, the stuff you put your body through on a weekly basis,” Murray said in New York after his 2012 triumph. “I’m … glad I managed to finally do it. Happy I was able to do it for all the guys I work with, as well, because they have been with me pretty much from the start and seen all of those things that go on away from the court.”
Murray’s situation is not uncommon for highly seeded players at a Slam.
Serena Williams has more than 40 people in her 2016 US Open entourage, including coach Patrick Mouratoglou, mother Oracene Price, sister Lyndrea Price, hitting partner Robbye Poole, full-time physio Kristy Stahr and agent Jill Smoller. Then there’s boyfriend Alexis Ohanian, executive assistant Grant Firestone, publicist Megan Brophy, fitness coach Mackie Shilstone, Delta CEO Ed Bastian, commercial agent Rob Koslowsky, nephews Jair and Justus Bobbitt and friends Florian Pata and Zane Haupt.
There are also the celebrities who are a part of her player box, including U.S. Olympian Allyson Felix, fashion icon Anna Wintour and hockey star P.K. Subban. Beyoncé and Jay-Z also attended one of her matches in the first week of the tournament.
And Novak Djokovic counts coach Boris Becker, wife Jelena, mentor Marian Vajda, physical trainer Gebhard Gritsch, physio Miljan Amanovic, agent Edoardo Artaldi, younger brother Marko, uncle and marketing strategist Goran Djokovic and former tennis-pro-turned-coach Gordon Uehling III among his team.
"Obviously I owe a great gratitude to my team and for making sure I can perform as well as I did, you know, all these years," Djokovic said after lifting the US Open trophy 12 months ago. "Tonight is a night that I will definitely remember for a long time."
Most teams aren’t usually that big, but it is becoming standard operating procedure for players, especially those in the Top-32, to travel to every tournament with at least a coach, trainer and physio in addition to family members who are able to attend.
At this year’s tournament, No. 20 seed John Isner had support from the likes of coach David MacPherson, chiropractor Clint Cordial, parents Bob and Karen Isner and girlfriend Maddy McKinley, and eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem had coach Gunther Bresnik, physio Alex Stober, agent Gabe Norona and consultant Mats Merkel among his player list.
Similarly, on the women’s side, No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska has coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, partner Dawid Celt, father Robert Radwanski, physio Krzysztof Guzowski, while Karolina Pliskova, ranked 10th, travels with coach Jiri Vanek and fitness coach Martin Nosko.
On the court, a player is essentially on his or her own. But off it, an army of experts help elevate a player’s game. Murray acknowledged that when asked at Wimbledon about how much Lendl brought to his team and how valuable he is to his success.
“I obviously had the best years of my career with him,” Murray said, “but there [are] other people that go into it, as well. The rest of the team that's working with me has helped get me into this position.”
