Top 10 players with pushy parents featuring a ‘supportive’ Judy Murray and Emma Raducanu’s ‘hard to please’ father
Stefanos Tsitsipas has recently announced his split with his father Apostolos as coach with a few choice words. When coaching or support is a family affair, things can get strained.
1. Andy Murray
He’s had more farewell tours than Kim Clijsters, but Judy’s younger son finally said goodbye on two of the biggest stages at the Olympics and, of course, Wimbledon. Mother Judy certainly wasn’t overjoyed when Emma Raducanu chose to duck out of one final hurrah in the mixed doubles at SW19.
Judy insisted that if she had been a man she would have been called “supportive” rather than other less kind words. With three single majors and two Olympic golds, Andy stepped into line pretty well, didn’t he?
2. Jelena Dokic
In 1999, Jelena Dokic beat reigning champion and the No 1 seed Martina Hingis at Wimbledon for the loss of only two games. The 16-year-old Australian had everything going for her in the tennis sense. She also had a coach – her father – who was ejected from the US Open for complaining about the price of salmon. Angrily.
In 2017, the former world No 4 wrote a broke called “Unbreakable”, claiming Damir Dokic would kick her in the shins if she didn’t train well and hand out hideous vocal abuse. Despite attempts from her side, there has been no contact from her father for years.
3. Emma Raducanu
Pushy can be positive. Or so Emma Raducanu says. The 2021 US Open champion came to see the value despite initial resentment about how her parents worked her hard. “They are so mentally resilient – it’s like nothing can bring them down.” Ian Raducanu has been accused of micromanaging his daughter’s progress with more coaches than Chelsea FC and Emma admitted in an interview that he is “hard to please”.
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Stefanos Tsitsipas’ brutal criticism of his dad’s coaching highlighted his need for a change
4. Richard Krajicek
Krajicek won the 1996 Championships at Wimbledon at the age of 24, his only major success. By that time, he was almost halfway through an estrangement with his father. The 6 ft 5 inch Dutchman told the BBC in a 2013 interview that Krajicek Snr made him run home behind the car if he had a poor practice session. He once got a spanking when his dad thought that he had tanked a match. His son explained it was jetlag.
5. Bernard Tomic
In 2011, an 18-year-old Bernard Tomic said of his father: “Sooner or later, he’ll back off a little bit. But until I become the best player I can be, I think only he can help me.” Unfortunately, he never became that player partly due to his parent’s antics.
Tomic Snr ended up in court and was jailed after headbutting his offspring’s hitting partner in 2013. He once ordered his son off the playing surface in Perth because he thought the umpire was being too lenient to his opponent. “I’m still scared of my Dad, but he made me who I am today,” said a diplomatic Bernard in 2022.
6. Jennifer Capriati
When Jennifer Capriati defeated Steffi Graf at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics as a 16-year-old, she was the all-sweet American pie. Her father, Stefano, a former stuntman had a proverb from his heritage: “When the apple is ripe, eat it. Jennifer is ripe.” He later admitted to putting too much pressure on her.
After quitting the game in the mid-1990s for a couple of years and going through some teenage hell, Jennifer returned, became No 1 and claimed three singles Grand Slams. “My father was the most loving, kind, supportive, beautiful father a daughter could ask for,” Capriati wrote on his passing in 2015.
7. Mary Pierce
Pierce won the Australian Open and her home tournament at Roland Garros in singles. Her father and coach Jim was the original Tiger Dad. With claws. There was constant abuse coming from the stands to intimidate opponents and his girl. Once he shouted: “Kill the b****” as Mary went in for the victory. It was supposed to be supportive.
He was eventually banned from attending tournaments by the WTA in 1993. A regulation, known commonly as the ‘Jim Pierce Rule’ was even introduced to keep the peace. Mary cut off all ties with him for seven years and then became a born-again Christian. “I grew up scared every day,” she recalled in a recent interview.
8. Steffi Graf
When a member of the Wimbledon crowd shouted out a proposal to Steffi Graf, the answer came back after a pause: “How much money have you got?” It was ironic that Graf’s father would later spend time in jail for evading tax on his daughter’s vast earnings. From the age of three, Peter had his daughter on a ball of string, earning the nickname Papa Merciless from the German press. Twenty-two single Grand Slams later, something had clearly worked.
9. Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is the master of driving himself to new goals as his incredible Olympic gold in Paris showed. He gets that spirit from somewhere. Father Srjdan was the prime mover in Novak’s formative years, singling him out for attention across the three sons due to a talent that had been spotted.
Toddler Djokovic had a mini-racket and a soft foam ball, which became “the most beloved toy in his life”. This was firm, fair and financially-strained pushing in the right direction.
10. Rafa Nadal
In his autobiography, Rafa Nadal says Uncle Toni was the terror of his life, installing a work ethic that left him with “a sinking feeling in my stomach”. Interestingly, Nadal also spoke of how his uncle created an insecurity which undermined him in the early rounds.
The Raging Bull learned one vital lesson: “Endure, put up with whatever comes your way, learn to overcome weakness and pain, push yourself to breaking point but never cave in.” He took that onboard pretty well before they parted ways in 2017. It’s only Nadal’s body that is screaming at him now.
