Meet The 2021 Coach Nominees: Boynton, Cervara, Ferrero, Lugones & Ruud
Coach of the Year in the ATP Awards goes to the ATP coach who helped guide their player to a higher level of performance during the year. The honour is nominated and voted on by fellow ATP coach members.
This year’s nominees are:
Craig Boynton (Hubert Hurkacz)
Craig Boynton began working with Hubert Hurkacz at the BNP Paribas Open in 2019, and the Polish star has steadily climbed since. But this year, Hurkacz reached new heights.
In 2021, Boynton helped his charge win his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open presented by Itau, reach his maiden major semi-final at Wimbledon, crack the Top 10 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and earn a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.
Boynton On Hurkacz’s Under-The-Radar Miami Run
Photo Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Gilles Cervara (Daniil Medvedev)
Gilles Cervara is the only 2021 nominee who was also nominated for Coach of the Year in 2020, when Fernando Vicente was bestowed with the honour. Cervara, who won this award in 2019, has continued helping Daniil Medvedev surge to the top of the tennis world.
The pair continued to break new ground this year. Medvedev led the ATP Tour with 63 tour-level wins, claimed his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto and notably earned his maiden major crown at the US Open, where he ended Novak Djokovic’s Grand Slam dreams in the final.
Cervara On Medvedev: ‘Winning Doesn’t Change Anything For Us’
Photo Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Juan Carlos Ferrero (Carlos Alcaraz)
Juan Carlos Ferrero is the most distinguished player on this list, having reached No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. But he has also shown his coaching prowess in aiding the rapid rise of Carlos Alcaraz, whom he began working with at the age of 15.
Alcaraz ascended from World No. 141 at the start of the season to year-end No. 32. The youngest player in the Top 100 at 18, the Spaniard lifted his first ATP Tour trophy in Umag and completed his best season yet with a dominant run to the title in Milan at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals title, where he lost just one set.
Ferrero: The Art Of Building Alcaraz
Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour
Facundo Lugones (Cameron Norrie)
Facundo Lugones has known Cameron Norrie since their days together at Texas Christian University when Lugones was a senior and Norrie was a freshman. Upon his graduation, Lugones had planned to work in finance. But after serving as a volunteer coach at TCU and teaching at a local tennis club, Norrie asked his former teammate to start traveling with him.
Norrie did not take long to establish himself as a professional after early success on the ATP Challenger Tour. But 2021 was his breakthrough season. The lefty claimed his first tour-level title in Los Cabos before battling to his maiden Masters 1000 trophy in Indian Wells. Norrie was an alternate at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he played two round-robin matches following the withdrawal of Stefanos Tsitsipas. He is at a career-high World No. 12.
Lugones On Norrie: ‘He’s A Completely Different Animal’
Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Christian Ruud (Casper Ruud)
Christian Ruud enjoyed a successful career, during which he ascended to No. 39 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. In 2020, he guided his son, Casper Ruud, past that mark. And this year, Casper soared to even greater heights.
The most accomplished player in Norwegian tennis history, Casper captured five ATP Tour titles in 2021. Ruud became the first player from his country to crack the Top 10 in September and he reached a career-high No. 8 in October. Casper completed his big campaign by competing at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he showed substantial improvement on hard courts by advancing to the semi-finals behind wins against Norrie and Rublev.
Christian: ‘I’m Very Happy [Casper] Has Beaten All My Records’
Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images
