THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, No. 6

Todd Martin to play another year
Martin's coach, Dean Goldfine, on coaching Todd, comments on the tour

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Dean Goldfine is the longtime coach of Todd Martin and always makes sure to keep a close eye on the goings on around the tour. Goldfine, who played collegiate tennis for Texas A&M, has worked with many other players including Mary Joe Fernandez, fellow Aggie and former doubles standout Grant Connell and Xavier Malisse.

A couple of years ago, Goldfine launched the Pat Goldfine Tennis Pro-Am in memory of his mother, who died of breast and lung cancer. The event, which raises money for cancer research, takes place only a couple of days before the Nasdaq-100 Open and brings in many of the heavyweight names amongst the players.

Goldfine, who lives in the Miami area with wife, Jessica and son, Max, took time out from his rare time at home to chat with tennisreporters.net about the 32-year-old Martin, the 2002 and 2003 season and some of the names on the tour.

tennisreporters.net: Since we haven't heard otherwise, should we presume that Todd plans to keep on playing in 2003?
Dean Goldfine: He is. He's planning on playing another year. I've been up to Ponte Vedra (Todd's home in the Jacksonville, Fla. area) a couple of times this fall, but otherwise, I've been home. He's going to miss the Australian Open because Amy [Martin's wife] is due on January 26. But then he's planning on picking up, hopefully, at either San Jose or Memphis. I think a lot of that (Todd's schedule for next year) will depend on how he does and what tournaments he can get into. And we'll see once Amy has the baby how tough it is for him to leave home for periods at a time or how much the baby is going to come on the road with Amy, that will probably remain to be seen. I think he'd like to [play a full schedule].

tr.net: We know at the beginning of last year you also worked with Xavier Malisse for about five months. Are you working with anyone else besides Todd right now?
Goldfine: Yeah, I worked a little bit in the fall with Brian MacPhie, but besides that I'm not working with anyone else.

tr.net: Speaking of Malisse, that relationship seemed to work out quite well, yet he decided to move on to working with Craig Kardon. What brought about that decision?
Goldfine: I worked with him through the French Open, but then after that we stopped because he wanted someone, basically, for himself. And I've been with Todd for so long I wasn't going to just give that up and he ended up getting someone just for him.

tr.net: A lot of people are surprised to still see Todd and other guys in their thirties such as Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi still playing. However, other top players in the past such as Ken Rosewall and Jimmy Connors played into their late thirties. Can you see any of today's players still playing into their late 30's?
Goldfine: I think that the game now is a little different than it was back then. I think back then the guys didn't hit the ball quite as hard and plus, the schedule wasn't quite as demanding -- they didn't have nearly as many tournament and didn't play nearly as much as they do now. I think it was probably a little easier from a physical standpoint -- not only physical but probably mentally as well – to play later down the road in your life when you're getting up there a little bit. Now, I think, when you're out there and playing as much as these guys are playing it's tough to sustain that level that you feel you should be at for long periods of time. In that respect, for Todd, especially that he's missed time from injuries, that's probably helped prolong his career as well as his love for the game. Here's a guy -- I think there's quite a few guys out there that don't really enjoy playing tennis but it's a way for them to make a living and it's what they've been raised to do -- but Todd really loves getting out there and competing and playing and that's why he's playing as late in his career as he is.

tr.net: You mentioned that the schedule these days is very heavy for players and certainly many players bring that point up. What is your opinion -- Are there too many tournaments out there? Should they be paring down the yearly schedule?
Goldfine: I agree with that [there's too many tournaments] but I think they're doing a better job now. This year, for most of the guys, the last week was the first week of November or the last week of October. I think that there making an effort to do something about it and it really needed to be done because more and more guys are getting injured. What I also think needs to be done is guys need to be smarter about making their schedules and not succumb to going here and going there to pick up there big guarantees. I think that some guys, especially a guy just starting to do well and hasn't made the money in the past, all of sudden are getting these guarantees thrown at them and are falling to everyone of them, taking every one. What you end up seeing with them is they do that and they tend to get burned out at least for a little while and there level of play tends to drop. Obviously, there are some people that the more they play the better they play. And then there's a handful of guys, it's better for them to be on the road because it's a better lifestyle for them, or enjoy it that much, that they rather be on the road instead of going home. Some of these guys don't have a home per se to go to or anything to go home to. It might make a little more sense for those types of guy, but I still think eventually they'll get fried.

tr.net: What has it been like for you working with Todd all these years? When he does decide to retire, do you think you'll try to hook up with another player on the tour or try to pursue something different?
Goldfine: I've been very spoiled working with Todd because there aren't that many guys out there that are as classy as he is. We've always have had a relationship where he's been very honest with me, very fair with me, very up front with me all the time. I'd have to take a long look if there was someone (to work with in the future) – I wouldn't just jump out it because I'd have to know the person a little bit. I'd have to feel I was going to be treated the same way and it would be a good working relationship. Now it's getting to where my time at home is too valuable and I don't want to be running around, chasing the buck per se, to work with someone that I don't enjoy being out there helping. It would have to be someone I feel appreciates that I'm out there working with them.

tr.net: Looking at 2002, did you think it was a good year for men's tennis?
Goldfine: I think it was a good year from the fact that some Cinderella stories came up with guys like [Thomas] Johansson winning the Australian Open and Al Costa winning the French Open -- that added some variety to the game. I think some people look at it the other way, that here's guys that some people never heard winning majors, but I think it's good for tennis, it adds a little spice to things. And then after that you had guys you would think would win, like Lleyton Hewitt winning Wimbledon and obviously, it was a great story with Pete winning the US Open. Then you had guys like Paradorn Srichaphan finally having his breakthrough that was a great story, and a guy like James Blake who is great for tennis and David Nalbandian, who had a great run at Wimbledon. Even though it was great at Wimbledon to have the baseliners doing well, it would have been great, more than the semifinal between Hewitt and Henman, where you have a contrast in style --see Pete [Sampras] in there or Todd, more textbook serve-and-volleyers --that could have made for some great matches and that was a disappointing thing at Wimbledon.

tr.net: What are your thoughts on some of the young guys out there -- Paradorn Srichaphan, Andy Roddick, Fernando Gonzalez?
Goldfine: Paradorn, I think, here's a guy whose a big, strong kid and I think he's starting to realize he belongs out there and he can wins these matches. I remember watching earlier last year and he played some really good matches, but lost some tight matches against some good players. I think that win over Agassi [second round] at Wimbledon was a big step for him because he finally beat one of these big players and has the confidence to do it. I also think he's starting to realize he doesn't have to hit every ball as hard as he can and that was a problem in the past. Andy Roddick and Fernando Gonzalez have had that problem, too. There are definitely times to do that and times when you need to play a little more high percentage. Yeah, you have to play your game and go for your shots, but there are certain times in a match when you have to make guys play balls and it doesn't make any sense at those times in a match to try and hit winners left and right all the time. You need a little variety and you need to let your opponent make mistakes. Of course, half the battle is understanding when you have to do one and when you have to do the other and in most instances, that just comes with just playing, being out on the tour, learning it. Gonzalez has a huge forehand and he's a big guy who has gotten a lot more consistent with his play. I think a lot of that is mental; he has the confidence to go out there and he realizes he has a pretty good opportunity to do some damage and be a pretty solid player. He seems to have committed himself more to it and wants to do well, and must be putting in the time and effort to achieve his goals. Andy finished Top 10 or 11 and you can't call that disappointing. Obviously, your second year out there, guys start to figure out a little bit more about your game. I think considering that he did really well. He still has room for improvement – he can get to where he can get to the net a little bit – he's worked on that a little bit and it's going to come. You have to figure out where you need to be at the net and where you need to cover. Andy had a very good year overall. The places that were a little disappointing for him were the Grand Slams – obviously, there the most important tournaments for players and you can overemphasize them – and maybe he put a little too much pressure on himself when the Grand Slams came around to do well and that might have hurt him a little bit.

tr.net: And your thoughts on Lleyton Hewitt. Will he continue to hold onto the No. 1 ranking?
Goldfine: It's going to be interesting because he has said he's going to cut down his schedule. I think that will help him from the fact that he puts a lot of energy into his play and that will allow him to be fresher. It might hurt him in the fact that he might not do as well in the tournaments when he first comes back because I think it's tough, and it's getting tougher and tougher when you're away from the game for a period of time to come back and just do well right away. It might be tough for him to keep the No. 1 ranking but it should help him at the tournaments he wants to gear up for next year.