Few tennis professionals can match Wim Fissette’s star coaching credentials.
The Belgian made an early mark guiding Kim Clijsters, then an unranked wildcard recipient, to the US Open title during her stunning tour comeback in 2009.
Clijsters defended her US triumph in 2010 and added the AO 2011 title under the tutelage of Fissette, who has since coached Grand Slam champions including Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber.
He is now enjoying a second stint as coach to former world No.1 Naomi Osaka, who returned to the tour this year following the birth of her daughter, Shai, last July.
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Fissette had earlier worked with the Japanese star in 2020 and 2021, when she added the US Open and Australian Open titles to her major milestones.
It’s a list of champions that other pro coaches would cherish, but Fissette has revealed there’s one name he’d have loved to add to his CV.
“My dream is to actually coach – or I thought the highest possible I could achieve for to coach – (is) Maria Sharapova,” said Fissette, when asked on this week’s episode of The Sit-Down to name a past player who had most piqued his interest.
“She was such an interesting player. She was also like an unbelievable good player. But yeah, I felt like I would have been super excited to coach her and to try to make her a better player … especially (in) the last five or six years of her career.
“I think I could have been a valuable coach for her,” he added, while acknowledging that former world No.1 Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, had “really great coaches during her career and always had the best people around her.”
LISTEN: Wim Fissette on The Sit-Down podcast
Serena Williams was another superstar in focus, as Fissette shared insights of his enviable coaching record against the American legend.
Six different players – Clijsters, Halep, Azarenka, Kerber, Osaka and Sabine Lisicki – claimed defining wins over Williams under his direction.
“Obviously it's a great stat. I'm super proud of that,” he smiled. “Serena, I mean obviously … the best female player all time. (I have) so much respect for her.”
Success against the champion, Fissette revealed, started with self-belief. “Serena definitely won a lot of matches before the match started,” he commented when asked to share some secrets of his success.
Other keys, he revealed, were tactical.
“If you would just stay mentally like believing that there was always kind of a window where she was like going down a bit (with her) level and that was I felt that was always the moment that you needed to do be ready for," he related.
“And because she won so many matches easily, she was also not too comfortable when it would go to a five-all or a six-all level because it was like she was not experiencing that a lot.”
For now, the Belgian is relishing his role with Osaka, believing the best is yet to come for his 26-year-old charge.
“She has won her four Grand Slams and she played amazing tennis but coaching her, I feel there's a lot more to do,” said Fisette.
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“I do feel that if she if he keeps making steps forward that that's the results going to be that she's going to win more Grand Slams.
“That's at least the goal and that's where we as a team really believe in.”