Mailbag: Taking stock of recent coaching changes and partnerships

A flurry of questions came in Tuesday asking Novak Djokovic’s parting with Boris Becker. This may have been the least surprising coaching break-up in recent memory. You have a pairing that’s been together three years. Or roughly 2.5 years longer than many expected. You have a former champion with interests beyond tennis who doesn't necessarily need the money. You have a current champion whose game has stagnated, who speaks openly about mental fatigue, and who has already taken the unusual step of hiring a team member on the grounds that he gives, “absolute priority to the person's well-being, feelings and emotions.” (There are no rules about monogamy, but you imagine Boris saying, “What? I don’t give absolute priority to your emotions?”) On the continuum of surprise break-ups, suffice to say this is closer to Brad and Angelina than Al and Tipper Gore.

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