A host of legends, including Lleyton Hewitt, Ash Barty, Andre Agassi and Kim Clijsters have developed a special mentorship role with players from the current generation.
Be it compatriots to common causes, their reasons for connection are varied but all come with a shared goal: to help bring out the best in their respective charges.
These are 10 of the best mentor-player combinations involving current players, outside family links.
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Lleyton Hewitt / Alex De Minaur and Alexei Popyrin
It is a special bond when an idol becomes mentor and for Alex de Minaur, this shift in his relationship with former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt began as a rising junior.
De Minaur, who has spent stints staying with Hewitt and his family in Sydney and in Melbourne when he didn’t have an Australian base as a teenager, has similarly moulded his game on speed around the court and a relentless will to win.
“Lleyton's been a huge help,” De Minaur said. “He's been someone I have looked up to as well, as I'm sure a whole generation of Aussies [have done].
“Just to have him as my Davis Cup coach, mentoring me, helping me out whenever, coming out to these matches, is just a special feeling.”
De Minaur was not the only Australian benefitting from a close connection with Hewitt. Following his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy in Montreal, Alexei Popyrin also paid tribute.
“Lleyton has been a big part of my professional career … He’s really helped a lot through all our careers,” Popyrin told The Sit-Down podcast. “To have him by my side and kind of help me along the way is really amazing.”
Andre Agassi / Sebastian Korda and Marcos Giron
As the son of former Czech players and having grown up watching his father, Petr Korda, guide his now coach, former world No.11 Radek Stepanek, Sebastian Korda has spent his 22 years surrounded by tennis royalty.
Not short on access to big-name input, it has been one of his father’s former rivals, Andre Agassi, who has become an invaluable additional sounding board.
“He’s one of the most special people in my life,” Korda said of the former world No.1. “He’s been one of the biggest parts in my rise. Overall, just as a tennis player, as a human being.”
It was during a training block at Agassi’s home in Las Vegas four years ago that Marcos Giron answered a call-out to hit with Korda. Before long, Giron was also tapping into the American great’s tips.
“It really did change my life, his view on the game,” he told ATPTour.com. “I really believe he extended my career by years. Having his guidance and his knowledge and his vision.”
Ash Barty / Olivia Gadecki
Ash Barty has long seen it, even if it has taken Olivia Gadecki a little longer to fulfil it.
The former world No.1 credited the new top-ranked Australian with helping recharge her career with frequent practice sessions in their home state of Queensland during the pandemic, where Gadecki’s attitude and ability clearly impressed.
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Earlier this month, the Gold Coaster finally lived up to the potential Barty had earmarked when she became the first Aussie woman since the three-time Grand Slam singles champion to reach a WTA 500 final in Guadalajara.
“Ash has been an amazing mentor for me,” Gadecki told ABC Sport. “She was there when I started my career end of 2020, 2021 and she’s just been there for me, and she really showed me what it was to work hard and do all the right things and believe in myself. She’s been amazing and I’m so grateful to have someone like that in my corner.”
Jana Novotna / Barbora Krejcikova
Late Czech great Jana Novotna had a profound impact on countrywoman Barbora Krejcikova’s ascent, stressing the importance of composure and even light-heartedly the need to fly business class as soon as financially viable.
As an 18-year-old, Krejcikova famously door-knocked the former Wimbledon champion and world No.3 for advice on how to take the next step in her career. It was a mentorship that quickly blossomed and included a two-year stint in a formal coaching capacity before Novotna fell ill with cancer.
“She was telling me a lot of stories about her journeys here and how she was trying to win Wimbledon, and I was so far when we had this talk. Now I’m here and I’m in a final,” Krejcikova said after winning her Wimbledon semifinal this year.
“I’m thinking about Jana a lot. I have so many beautiful memories. When I step on court here, I fight for every single ball because that’s what I think she would want me to do. I just miss her very much.”
Kim Clijsters / Elise Mertens
Elise Mertens has a particular affinity for Australia having scooped her first two singles titles in Hobart back-to-back, her sole Grand Slam singles semifinal to date at Melbourne Park in 2018 and two major doubles trophies in 2021 and 2024.
A graduate of the Kim Clijsters Academy in Belgium, her idol and mentor’s success Down Under – which included four WTA singles titles as well as the 2011 Australian Open – helped fuel her belief.
“She has a lot of experience if I need to ask something, you know, how you’re feeling, she can help me a lot,” Mertens said during her semifinal run six years ago.
“She was an amazing player. She fights for every ball, she gets a lot of balls back and that offence game, it’s amazing that I can practise with her in the academy and learn a lot from her… I think we’re both good fighters.”
Pam Shriver / Donna Vekic
A common objective to create meaningful change in women’s tennis brought Croatian Donna Vekic and 21-time Grand Slam doubles champion Pam Shriver together during the San Diego tournament two years ago.
Shriver approached Vekic, a member of the player council, to explain her mission for better player protection from predatory coaches. Having watched her qualifying match, the American later asked whether she would also appreciate some on-court advice.
Then ranked world No.77, Vekic agreed to it and went all the way to the final. It is a connection that has proved fruitful since, especially in recent months when a first major semifinal at Wimbledon and an Olympic silver medal in Paris ensued.
“Pam is, first of all, a great person off the court,” Vekic said. “She's had an amazing career. She has so much experience, especially because playing, and then the last couple of years she's been commentating. She knows all the players really well… So, she can help me in some crucial moments. She's great fun.”
Gael Monfils / Arthur Fils
Still the third-ranked Frenchman, 38-year-old Gael Monfils has cherished providing guidance to his younger compatriots as they navigate the pitfalls of life on tour while juggling huge expectations from at home.
The former world No.6 has drummed up a particularly close bond with 20-year-old Arthur Fils, whom he has watched rise from a Roland Garros junior finalist three years ago to a top-20 player and tour titlist.
“When I went to Paris to practise, I met him. We practised together for the first time,” Monfils told ATPTour.com. “As always, you know, when you're a bit older, you chat with younger players and always tell them, if they have any questions, don’t hesitate.”
The pair spent a week together as part of Europe’s Laver Cup team in Vancouver last year, and a month later, Fils signed the TV camera following a first-round win in Shanghai with “Moving like La Monf” in tribute to his idol.
“It's very nice, because he's giving so much experience,” Fils said. “He's helping us a lot… It's very nice to have him on the tour.”
Lindsay Davenport / Madison Keys
As one of the purest ball-strikers of the 2000s and one who mastered juggling power with patience, Lindsay Davenport saw a lot of herself in a young and at-times erratic Madison Keys.
The pair first linked up in a formal coaching arrangement in the 2014 off-season and it reaped immediate results when Keys reached her first major semifinal at Melbourne Park in 2015.
While Davenport no longer works as the 29-year-old’s coach, the pair maintains a strong tie.
“‘Linds’ has been absolutely amazing and to have her in my corner has meant the world to me,” Keys told Tennis Channel in 2022.
“To this day, I’ll get nervous and I text her. I’m like, ‘okay, so what should I do? Like, just tell me what to do and how can I try to be like a little bit of you’.
“Just having her support has been amazing for the last, I mean, I think it has been like seven or eight years now so I’m very thankful to have her.”
Martina Hingis / Belinda Bencic
Belinda Bencic was in good hands when half of one of the world’s most prolific mother-daughter coaching duos began guiding at just seven years old.
Melanie Molitor led Martina Hingis to five Grand Slam singles titles and the world No.1 ranking at just 16 years old before she helped fellow Swiss Bencic to the top 15 eight years later.
A welcome fringe benefit of having the superstar coach was that her superstar daughter took a keen interest in Bencic’s development.
“Definitely gives extra motivation. Of course I can learn a lot from what she says,” Bencic said of Hingis. “I try to listen as much as I can. I think I always play really good when she's in the box, so I'm very happy when she has time to come.”