Zhang鈥檚 coach Liu never lost faith
Print Edition
Zhang Shuai鈥檚 transformation from an emotional wreck to a grand slam quarterfinalist has been the feel-good story of the Australian Open but also counts as a triumph of player management by her faithful coach Liu Shuo.
Finding the right words to comfort a player after a loss is one of the tougher parts of a coach鈥檚 job, so 37-year-old Liu had to get creative last year as Zhang suffered a crisis of confidence that pushed her to the brink of quitting.
Zhang slumped to 14th successive first-round exit at the grand slams at the French Open last year, a record among active players in the women鈥檚 top 300, and her ranking, which peaked at 30 in mid-2014, plummeted towards the 200s.
Zhang wondered if her coach was 鈥渃heating鈥 her into persevering but Liu never had any doubt she would turn it round. 鈥淚 told Shuai that she was totally different from other Chinese girls,鈥 Liu said.
鈥淚 said 鈥榦ne day you will have huge success at the grand slams.鈥 I just felt that for some people who have easy wins in the first or second round, they might not go much farther.
鈥淏ut if you are always having to battle through the tough times and you never give up, you鈥檒l be a big, big success.
鈥淚f you give up there will be no chance to see the bright days. This is what I told her every time that we lost. It鈥檚 like boxing, if someone hits you, don鈥檛 fall down. Just try standing. Maybe there will be a second where you have an opening and 鈥榖ang!鈥 Just hit.鈥
That opening came in the most unlikely of circumstances, when Zhang was drawn to play the world No. 2 Simona Halep in the first round, having grafted through qualifying as the world鈥檚 133rd-ranked player.
鈥淓veryone (in China) said: 鈥15 first-round exits coming soon.鈥 Nobody believed in her. Maybe only her parents, me and her fitness coach,鈥 Liu said.
Zhang, a Tianjin native, had virtually resolved that Melbourne would be her last grand slam, so she brought her parents with her to watch her play. In the lead-up, she and Liu bought lottery tickets with a US$15 million jackpot with friends on the Chinese social media platform WeChat.
鈥淏ut I told Shuai, 鈥榯his isn鈥檛 a great way to get rich. But tomorrow鈥檚 match will take you 50 percent on the way to getting rich, to getting famous,鈥欌 said Liu.
鈥溾楽o tomorrow, show your best. It doesn鈥檛 matter. Even if we lose, we have nothing to lose. If you make it, this won鈥檛 just make the national news, this will be all over the world. It鈥檚 going to be big.
鈥淣obody could have predicted Zhang would make the quarters here,鈥 said Liu. 鈥淭hey would point to Zhang and say this one has no chance. 鈥楽he doesn鈥檛 have the talent.鈥 But I felt Zhang had the mental side, the psychology.鈥
Keeping things calm for Zhang is now Liu鈥檚 priority. It is virtually impossible with the buzz her run has created in China.
鈥淭he first day when we came here for qualifying nobody talked about us. There were no interviews, nobody cared,鈥 he said. 鈥淣ow, I鈥檝e had to tell lots of Chinese media to keep calm, please don鈥檛 give her any extra pressure.
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