Aussie tennis player Marinko Matosevic won’t be following in the footsteps of Andy Murray and hiring a female coach after delivering a sexist-filled rant at the prestigious Queen’s Club tournament in London.
Responding to Murray’s decision to appoint former world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo as his new grass-court coach in the lead-up to Wimbledom, Matosevic told reporters he isn’t a fan of the women’s game.
“Apparently there’s a few guys in the top 100 who are coached by women,” Matosevic said after knocking out former Queen’s Club champ Marin Cilic in the tournament’s opening round.
“Mikhail Kukushkin is coached by his wife, Denis Istomin by his mum, she’s done a great job with him.
“For me, I couldn’t do it since I don’t think that highly of the women’s game.”
More foot in the mouth comments followed when asked whether a coaching separation was needed between the ATP and WTA.
“It’s all equal rights these days. Got to be politically correct.
“So, yeah, someone’s got to give it a go. It won’t be me.”
The Bosnian-born world No.60, coming off a second-round loss to Murray at the French Open, is one of the few to openly speak negatively of the move while 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer has led the charge of those in favour of the Mauresmo appointment.
“There were rumours in Paris about them working together. I think it is very interesting. I think it’s great and only time will tell if it is going to be successful or not,” Federer said ahead of an appearance at the Gary Weber Open in Halle, Germany.
“I always enjoyed watching her play and she is a true professional. So from that standpoint, I think it’s a great choice and I hope they’re going to be a successful team together.”
The 28-year-old Matosevic is yet to win a world title and has a career-high ranking of 39 achieved early last year.
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