Friday 5 September 2014

Interview with Grigor's coach Roger Rasheed .


Q. Your new charge Grigor Dimitrov has started winning and broken into the Top 10. What did you do with him that’s so different?

Rasheed: I have a profile of the Top 75 guys in the world and I do it every three months and I look at their good points and the points where they break.

Q. Wow. Obsessive much?

Rasheed: (Laughs) … When I showed Grigor his, I gave him clarity and strength on where he needs to move. He didn’t need to keep bringing all of his tools and I said to him, “I don’t need to see you on a highlights reel with all the unbelievable shots, but you’ve lost 6-3 6-3. I want to see you for 10 seconds because you’ve won 6-3 6-3.” Every single ball he hits must have purpose. He’s such a good kid, he just needs a bit of mongrel in him

Q. Sounds intense, surely you both can’t keep up that pace every day?

Rasheed: He’s missed one day so far where I didn’t think he had it going on. We were on the court and I told him “you’re boring me”. I wasn’t excited or inspired by what I was watching so I challenged this kid to give me something.

I’m a really positive person so it was almost like a throw-away line but he’s intelligent and he wants it.

Q. You count Greg Norman as a mentor, what has he taught you?

Rasheed: He’s got an amazing affiliation with the excitement of life and he’s created everything he’s got. He has an amazing work ethic too. I took Grigor to his place and didn’t say much, I just let him watch Greg like I used to. If you see him training he’s a lunatic! It’s all about having purpose in that elite space because it gives you clarity.

Q. Hanging out at Greg Norman’s house, travelling all over the world … it all sounds very glamorous.

Rasheed: I live in a cocoon. You can be one of the boys but that’s never been my way. Lleyton and I stayed very separate to everyone. You’ve got to have that if you want to be the best in the world. You can’t be one of the boys.

They can’t feel comfortable coming on the court against you. Grigor was one on the boys and we’re working on that.

Q. Is he the best you’ve coached?

Rasheed: (Long pause) I don’t like to compare them. He’s the best natural talent by far with what he can do athletically and with a racquet. He’s the best I’ve had my hands on.





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