I asked a tennis coach regarding the future of Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, and why American men’s tennis continues to fall down. Here are the answers.

What do you think about Roger Federer’s play? His results in this year are excellent. Federer just defeated Juan Martin del Potro 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 at Swiss Indoors Basel in
Basel, Switzerland. Is Federer capable to return to #1? If he asked you about assistance with his game, what would you tell him?

The Big four are now the Big two again – Nadal and Federer. Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will come back to the tour in 2018, and Roger Federer just isn’t as accurate as he used to be. I doubt his preparation has changed. I used to think that he could make one last stand, as Pete Sampras did, but Sampras had the serve, which is the last shot to go away. Roger Federer had the ability to be more dominant at net, where age is not a big factor, but he chose to rely on his forehand. Now I think it’s too late to return to #1.

Rafael Nadal will end 2017 as world number one after a second-round win over Hyeon Chung at the Paris Masters. Just one year ago many tennis specialists were doubt at all about his ability to come back to the tour after serious health problems. What is the Nadal’s secret?

Rafael Nadal is now at the age when the greatest defensive players fall apart. When they do, it is almost all at once. I’m still waiting and enjoying the ride.

The 30-year-old Maria Sharapova  won her first WTA title since 2015, outlasting Aryna Sabalenka in two tough sets to claim the Tianjin Open. Recently she said that her goal is goal is to keep winning matches, obviously to keep improving. Can she return on #1 in the world?

If you can hit as well as Maria Sharapova you really don’t need a serve, so her right shoulder shouldn’t be a real hindrance unless she runs into Serena Williams or Victoria Azarenka. But both of them out of the tour now. I think Sharapova has a good chance to reach top 5 in the next year and even become #1 again.

American men’s tennis is in a deep crisis. USTA spends many millions dollars annually on the development of new American tennis stars. Why its results are so disappointed?

The USTA is spending millions of dollars supporting the USTA, as would be expected of any bureaucracy. When a player gets good, they lure him or her away from the program that made him or her good with financial incentives, wild cards, and pipe dreams of glory. It’s like cocaine and hard to resist. It’s also changing a winning game; something every coach knows should never be done.

There should be more tournaments with bigger draws. The training centers should be available to any player of sufficient proficiency, and his or her coach. And students should be encouraged to attend a real school. Most junior tennis players will not be among the top 200 or so who can make a better living playing tennis than by teaching tennis, and they have the rest of their lives to be uneducated.

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