In December 2022, Oliver Marach announced his official retirement from active tennis, and around a year later he is back on the ATP tour – as a coach.
The 43-year-old Styrian has been supporting his former doubles partner Mate Pavic as a coach for several weeks.
Marach and Pavic formed a congenial duo on the ATP doubles tour for several years. The two won the Australian Open in 2018 and also made final appearances at Wimbledon (2017) and the French Open (2018). In May 2018, Marach was second in the doubles world rankings behind Pavic.
“Things didn’t go well for Mate in 2023. After no success, he separated from partner Nikola Mektic. There were also a few injuries and he was mentally down,” Marach explains to the “Kleine Zeitung”.
First joint title in Hong Kong
That’s why the 30-year-old Croatian asked his former partner whether he would like to give him a hand. “We tried it briefly on the US tour last year, but this year it’s fixed,” says Marach.
The work already seems to be bearing fruit. In Hong Kong, Pavic won the doubles competition together with Marcelo Arevalo. In Auckland the duo were eliminated in round one, but they still feel well prepared for the Australian Open.
Fixed collaboration until March – and then?
“We’re doing the Australian tour now and Miami and Indian Wells in March. Then we’ll see. In between I’ll be in Panama for a month because my kids are on vacation there,” says Marach, who runs a physiotherapy clinic in his adopted home of Panama does not yet speak of a long-term commitment.
Among other things, because the many trips are very time-consuming: “From Panama to Hong Kong I spent 29 hours on the road, from Hong Kong to Auckland it was eleven again. That’s tough.”
The man from Graz also has other plans that keep him busy. “So it’s not at all certain whether I’ll stick with tennis.” Among other things, he is planning a large project in the USA. But: “Unfortunately, I can’t say what that is at the moment.”
These 20 Austrians cracked the top 100 of the ATP rankings
What do you think of this article?
2024-01-11 15:35:54
#Oliver #Marach #ATP #tour
