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THE TR NEWSLETTER: TUESDAY, JULY 24, NO. 235

Golovin into the mind of new coach Wilander

Tatiana on Bartoli: 'She's just another player for me.
I don't text every finalist of a Grand Slam'
Plus: Kirilenko's new coach, Osterloh, Liu

By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net

The French Tennis Federation has hired Mats Wilander to coach Tatiana Golovin for the rest of the summer, which will be a substantial project for the intelligent Swede. Golovin is a counter-puncher with solid weapons from the baseline, but is happier defending than she is going on offense. That's fine, if you can take your opponent out of position and come up with the big shots necessary to win points, but not if you need an extra three shots to put up a positive number up on the scoreboard.

Golovin might appear on the outside to be just a fun girl, but she's a pretty smart player. However, she borders on being too conservative. She had a excellent April, winning her first career title at Amelia Island, before re-injuring her right ankle in Charleston and in the first round of Fed Cup. The 19-year-old didn't even begin to regain a sliver of her form until Wimbledon, where all anyone could do was talk about her red bike shorts.