Coach-Player Duo Living the Dream

A little over six months ago, on August 31, 2009, one of the headlines on the ATP World Tour's official website read, "Ilhan Creates History For Turkey." There were two unusual words in that title: on one hand, Ilhan was not a well-known name, and on the other hand, Turkey was not a country associated with making headlines in the world of ATP.

However, the accuracy of the title was unquestionable. Marsel Ilhan, the 22-year-old ranked player from Turkey who enjoyed the highest ranking of his career last week at No. 137, has continued to make more history since the last day of August last year. He has not only become the first Turkish male player to participate in the main draw of not one, but two major tournaments — the 2009 U.S. Open and the 2010 Australian Open — but he has also avoided being a simple "fill-in" player by winning a round in each tournament, only losing in the second round to two players currently ranked in the top 25 of ATP rankings, John Isner and Fernando Gonzales, respectively.

Not bad for a player who was ranked outside the top 1,000 less than two years ago!

The fast-rising Ilhan, despite remaining largely under the radar in the tennis world, has fast become an icon in Turkey. The title on the ATP World's official website could have easily included one more unusual name. While his well-documented story is quite inspiring — born in Uzbekistan, moved since to Turkey with his mother five years ago, and became a Turkish citizen (he has Turkish roots)— the successful rapport between Ilhan and his coach, Can Uner, that has so far resulted in Ilhan's fruitful and still-developing career has been left mainly unexplored.

I have had a chance to catch-up with Uner and talk to him about his pupil's career and ask him about the success of the duo. Energetic, friendly, yet modest by nature, Uner was a respectable player himself in his younger days, competing at the highest level in his native country Turkey. Currently, he coaches Ilhan full-time and works as an assistant coach with the Davis Cup team of Turkey. I had the chance and the honor of knowing him for many years; thus, I began my conversation with a question on a subject that has occupied my curiosity for a long time.

Q: Marsel seems to be level-headed, calm, and composed on the court. He rarely gets over-emotional and, like the legendary Borg, manages to maintain the "ice" look regardless of the stage of the match. On the other hand, you are an emotional, gritty, and a high-energy individual. Do you believe that this balancing act has been a contributing factor to your success as coach-player duo?

Uner: You know, Marsel has a different background than most other players and me. He has lost his father at an early age; he has not had the most comfortable childhood, sometimes suffering from lack of opportunities. He has learned to be ambitious, sometimes to the point of being greedy for improvement, at an early age. But he also learned to not get emotional and use this ambition in a methodical manner, thus his composure.

Two years ago, when I first met Marsel, the timing and the circumstances were in the favor of a productive partnership. I have just finished my apprenticeship in coaching seminars and I was already teaching tennis. I was a newcomer to the coaching program of Tacspor Club in Istanbul, Turkey. Marsel was there at the time, himself having moved to Turkey less than three years ago. He was still developing, but ambitious. He was also the best player by a large margin at the club, so my arrival was perfect for him since he was not getting to play with players who could challenge him in practice.

So from the beginning, we got along very well. I found the right player to work with in order to utilize efficiently my fresh enthusiasm for coaching, and he found in me someone who would provide him with methodical framework for practice to fit his work ethics and someone in whom he could confide and trust. My personality has perhaps helped in earning his trust. Since then, we became like brothers. I have learned from him as much as he has learned from me. It has been a learning experience for both of us. I don't avoid consulting him in every decision that I take as his coach and he know that he can trust me. Even when scheduling, we arrive at decisions only after both of us have agreed on the next step. His mother, with whom he is very close, also trusts me, which helps even more.

Q: How do you see Marsel's chances in the upcoming months on clay courts? Would that be considered his "unexplored" surface? He has many ATP points to gain and not much to lose since his success has come largely in the last six months.

Uner: In my opinion, clay courts should fit his gritty playing style. He adopts a "warrior-style" approach to matches, which is the most important ingredient to be successful on clay courts. It is true that if he has a successful clay court campaign, he could gain enough points to enter directly in the main draws of Roland Garros and Wimbledon; that is a goal within reach now.

First, he has to learn to be a little more patient. Sometimes he feels that out-hitting your opponent is enough to win matches, but his recent experience at the highest level has shown to him that he needs to use his variety, construct the point, and sometimes fabricate winning combination of shots instead of simply hitting the ball hard and away from the opponent. He possesses that variety already. If he can put it to good use, he could jump another level. I believe the clay court season will teach him that, and in the long-run, will help improve his overall game.

Q: Considering the rise in Marsel's ranking, is he likely to play more ATP World tour events or are you still planning on playing a few challengers, too?

Uner: We will try to aim high as much as possible. We are planning on playing Dubai since Marsel performs well in high temperatures. The week following Davis Cup, he will play a challenger because he can enter main draw directly after the Davis Cup weekend. After Miami, our goal is to attack the clay court season with the ATP event in Houston, move on to Europe for the qualifiers of Monte Carlo Masters Series tournament. Depending on how much match play Marsel gets, he may also play a challenger on clay court prior to Roland Garros.

Q: Do you feel that you have received enough support in Turkey for what Marsel has been able to accomplish?

Uner: Quite frankly, the support has been more than I could imagine. Financially, we are sponsored by Turkcell, one of the biggest companies in Turkey, which helps our exposure. To have such a reputable company like Turkcell involved in the cause for tennis means a lot to us and to tennis in Turkey. Also, the Turkish Tennis Federation has been generously providing for our traveling expenses for almost three years and this has allowed us to focus on our task at hand and dedicate our effort to improving Marsel's results. But the moral support has been the biggest surprise of all. The tennis community, the media, have been on our side since the beginning of Marsel's success. We are definitely not going unnoticed even though in the past tennis has not necessarily been considered as a "selling" sport in Turkey.

Q: Does Marsel get along well with other players?

Uner: Yes, in general all is well. Marsel is not someone who has a variety of hobbies. He stays mainly focused on the task at hand, which is his tennis career. He neither gets sidetracked by distractions nor gets involved in too many social activities. But none of that keeps him from having friends on the tour. He stays balanced for the most part.

Q: Marsel seems to have fundamentally sound overall technique. He is what one could call "a solid all-around" player. Do you plan on developing a certain weapon in his game that may help him reach the next level?

Uner: We have been focusing on his serve lately. We are working to improve his first-serve percentage, especially on big points. He actually has a big serve that can be that weapon, just like he can produce big shots on his forehand side. So the lack of a big weapon is not the problem. Sometimes he uses his weapons at the wrong times, and when they don't work, they turn against him. Lately, we have discussed this aspect quite a lot. He needs to manage better his game plan at the mental level. He is by nature a conservative player when it comes to changing his game, sometimes he is even stubborn. So the first step is to get him to believe in using what he already possesses.

You know, he is still learning a lot. He is even learning to run more efficiently. For a long time, it was enough for him to stay back and hit big to win matches. Now he realizes that he has to move more, use the court better to construct points, perhaps make use of the angles. Along with that, he is learning to play the opponent better, too. This past year, facing players at the highest player, he has discovered a whole new concept of what it means to from a game plan. As he is winning matches, his confidence is growing along with his belief in his abilities.

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As we finished the conversation, I made a promise to myself to attend personally at least a few tournaments to observe closely Marsel in action and to spend time with these two enthusiastic individuals who seem to form an emblematic collaboration in the domain of coach-player relationships. If Marsel's meteoric rise in his short career is any indication of his future success, I firmly believe that the duo will continue to raise the eyebrows in Turkey, along with a few more in the world of ATP tennis.