Milos Raonic is not a fan of this rule being introduced into tennis at all.
Raonic announced his retirement from tennis last week, officially bringing an end to his 18-year career which saw him reach a career-high of world number three and reach the 2016 Wimbledon final.
Prior to officially announcing his retirement from tennis, Raonic was interviewed in the latest episode of The Changeover Podcast.
During this conversation, Raonic criticised a tennis rule which he claims has no benefit to the sport.
Milos Raonic calls out tennis rule that he claims has no benefit
There are many rules in tennis which divide opinion, including the implementation of on-court coaching.
After a trial period for a number of years, on-court coaching was officially introduced into tennis from the start of the 2025 season.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have disagreed about on-court coaching in the past, with Raonic more in line with the latter.
When asked about on-court coaching, Raonic was very critical and claimed that it is not being implemented in the way that it was originally pitched.
Having come from a time when on-court coaching was not allowed, Raonic revealed that he actually told his coach not to take advantage of it while he was playing.
“I just think you took away a unique thing from tennis, which was whatever way you want to call it one vs one let’s see what everybody has, without making the benefit of making the viewing experience of that coaching any better,” said Raonic. “The way this was pitched was we’re doing this for the fans, the fans haven’t gotten anything out of it.
“So you take away a unique thing without the benefit of anything. So, I haven’t seen it without the benefit of anything so far…For me the last few years I would be like even to my coach, I would be like I’m not used to this let’s just not do it. That was always kind of it, I grew up without it. I mean for those younger guys now they wouldn’t know what to do without it.”
If you could change one rule in tennis what would it be and why?
Milos Raonic responds when asked if Carlos Alcaraz has benefitted from on-court coaching
Following his strong remarks about on-court coaching, Raonic was then asked if he thinks this has benefitted Carlos Alcaraz, who was previously in regular contact with former coach Juan Carlos Ferrero during his matches.
Raonic responded by claiming that younger players are most benefitted by on-court coaching, before pointing out that Alcaraz would have reached the level he is at now eventually, even if it did not happen quite as quickly.
The Canadian also pointed out the inequality that on-court coaching creates, with lower-ranked players less likely to have as big a team as Alcaraz.
“I think when you need it the most is when you’re young, because you just don’t know how to deal with those situations because you haven’t faced them before,” said Raonic. “So maybe it accelerates your development when you’re young, but I don’t think after it really makes a difference, you just need to grow up at some point.”
Raonic added, “…Maybe he [Alcaraz] doesn’t, but does he not become Carlos eventually? You know that aspect of it is a little bit irrelevant, but like old heads you think everything about your time was kind of like the best and all these kind of things.
“I just can’t, I just don’t see the benefit of it. I don’t think it’s made our sport more accessible, it’s just kind of taken away like an interesting talking point of like it’s just between those guys and I think the other thing is like what about that player who is having this Cinderella story run that just can’t afford the same kind of team. I think the beauty of you start the match you should feel like you’re on equal standing.”
Who would you like to see coach Carlos Alcaraz next?
Alcaraz won his first round match at the Australian Open against Adam Walton, which was also his first official match since the departure of Ferrero from his team.
On-court coaching is a particular feature at the Australian Open, with the players boxes literally on the court on Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, and the John Cain Arena.
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