Despite Serena Williams’ domination of the women’s tennis tour, and with 16 players in the top 100, the United States has a 16-year title drought in the Fed Cup, an international team competition it once dominated. ADVERTISING Despite Serena Williams’
Despite Serena Williams’ domination of the women’s tennis tour, and with 16 players in the top 100, the United States has a 16-year title drought in the Fed Cup, an international team competition it once dominated.
The European countries that have been perennial contenders in recent years are led by Fed Cup coaches who embed as omnipresent beings in their stars’ orbits throughout the season.
To best replicate that model, Kathy Rinaldi, who has worked as a coach within the U.S. Tennis Association’s player development program for years, was named the captain of the American team last week, succeeding Mary Joe Fernandez.
The decision is part of a holistic integration of the USTA’s player development and professional-level components.
Rinaldi, 49, is a lifer in tennis. She reached the quarterfinals of the French Open shortly after turning pro at 14, and she has spent her post-playing career in various developmental coaching roles for the USTA.
“I absolutely want to have an impact on them in some way, shape or form, with their performance team and coaches and families,” Rinaldi said. “They’ll know that I’ll be there in their corners.”
During her eight-year tenure, Fernandez was unable to finagle the attendance from Williams and other top players needed to consistently contend for the title. Her predecessor, Zina Garrison, was also unable in the previous five years to add to the United States’ 17 titles in the competition, the last of which came in 2000.
The Czech Republic, which has won five of the last six Fed Cups, has gotten its top players to regularly participate.
The solution envisioned by the USTA’s search committee was to make the Fed Cup more of a full-time role.
Fernandez worked primarily in the sport as a broadcaster in her post-playing career before and after taking on the role. Katrina Adams, president and chairwoman of the board for the USTA, said that hiring Rinaldi represented a reimagining of the position to help re-establish the United States as “the greatest nation in competitive tennis.”
“If you want to get better, you have to evolve,” Adams said. “We did things the same way for a very long time, and it was successful for a very long time. But with Mary Joe stepping down, we had a chance to look at our structure, look at how we run our team, and to constructively and strategically make some changes that would allow us to be successful in the near future.”
Stacey Allaster, the USTA’s chief executive of professional tennis, served with Adams; Martin Blackman, the general manager of player development; and Venus Williams on the selection committee that chose Rinaldi. Allaster said that she believed the power of the role had been squandered in the past.
“The Fed Cup captain and the Davis Cup captain, they are iconic inspirations and leaders of our sport, with fantastic talent and knowledge to be able to contribute more than three or four weeks of the year,” she said.
Allaster, who previously served as chief executive of the Women’s Tennis Association, said that team competition successes should serve as a powerful recruiting symbol for the sport, even if their profile has diminished recently in the U.S.
“As I came into this portfolio, I confirmed with everyone that we’re in it to win it,” Allaster said. “So if we’re in it to win, how do we need to resource this, and how do we need to give the players what they need to win?”
The new strategy of a centralized support structure around a constant “Team USA” ethos has a physical manifestation in the association’s new tennis center near Orlando in Lake Nona, Florida, where players and their personal coaches are encouraged to take advantage of training resources.
Allaster described the USTA’s support system as “à la carte.”
“What can we do to help you, Player X, to get you ready for the 2017 season?” she added. “What can we do through the year? Those conversations are happening with the athletes and their personal coaches.”
The USTA hopes that the shared space and resources will foster a deeper investment from players in national success, something that Adams thinks is already present in the younger generation, which has already spent more time in the association’s system and could prove to be steadier pillars upon which to build a team.
“Aside from Venus and Serena, who are still at the top of their games, you’ve got a whole new generation of players that look at things a little bit differently,” Adams said. “As we continue to excite them, and they continue to develop and move up in the rankings, they’re going to get that much more excited. They’re a different breed, in terms of high energy and having that fun. Even though they’re very serious, it’s just a different atmosphere for them.”
