'I hate it' - Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev give view on off-court coaching trial ahead of Cincinnati quarter-final

Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev have both given their verdict on the ATP’s new off-court coaching trial ahead of their Cincinnati Open quarter-final, with the American calling it a “dumb rule”. The trial started in July and allows players to receive verbal and non-verbal instructions from a coach in a designated seat around the court. Ad Verbal coaching is only permitted when the player is at the same end of the court while non-verbal coaching, such as hand signals, is permitted at any time.

ATP Cincinnati'It was a great level' — Medvedev impresses to set up quarter-final clash with Fritz14 HOURS AGO Nick Kyrgios has previously been a strong critic of the move, saying it takes away the “beauty” of the sport, and Fritz shared a similar view after beating the Australian in Cincinnati. “I haven't talked to Mike [Russell, Fritz’s coach] and he hasn't talked to me one time since the coaching has become a thing. It's a dumb rule.

“Tennis is an individual sport. Why are we making it not an individual sport? A huge part of tennis is, in my mind, like as tennis is as much mental as it is physical, and a big part of it is you need to be figuring it out on the court for yourself. You need to be the one figuring it out.

Fritz to face Medvedev in Cincinnati quarter-finals Schett: Djokovic has edge over Nadal in GOAT race “I think it's ridiculous that you can be mentally not there, not good analytically, not good at kind of working through things and coming up with strategies, and you can have someone tell you what to do. I hate it.” Off-court coaching has been a contentious issue in men's tennis for a while. When the trial period was announced, Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou congratulated the ATP for «legalising a