Coach Stine On Paul perception: 'Let's perpetuate those myths'

Peter Staples/ATP Tour

Brad Stine has coached a long list of stars in the tennis world, most notably enjoying multiple stints with former No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings Jim Courier. He now works with Netflix Break Point star Tommy Paul.

“Tommy is dedicated to wanting to be a great tennis player. He doesn't want to just be average. Obviously anybody that makes Top 100 and plays at the top echelon of the game is not average anyway,” Stine told ATPTour.com. “But within the game itself, we look at your ranking and the rounds that you've achieved in tournaments, and those kinds of things and established [what is] an average type of career. Tommy's not satisfied with that. He wants to be better than that and that's pushed him.

“I think that because of that commitment on his part, that allows me to coach and give him information that he absorbs, and that he wants to put into what he's doing as a player to try and get better. I think that he's done a good job of being coachable.”

Paul has steadily climbed into the world’s Top 20 and is now World No. 14, two spots off his career high. Break Point details some of the American’s early struggles, but those are long behind him.

“I think that, in a lot of ways, my timing, and his timing with me, was fortuitous. He was prepared and ready to be more serious, So that made it a little bit easier for me,” Stine said. “To be honest with you, the very first year that we started, we were like, let's perpetuate those myths that he's not being professional, that he's not doing what he's supposed to be doing, that he's not working hard, that he's kind of flaky and loosey-goosey and everything like that. Let people believe that as long as you possibly can.”

Paul has built a close bond with his team, which includes Stine, fitness coach Franco Herrero and physiotherapist Sebastian Cozzarin. The 26-year-old often spends time with Herrero and Cozzarin outside of their working relationship.

“We spend a lot of time together. We spend a lot of time traveling, we spend a lot of time together, we spend a lot of time communicating when we're not together. So you develop a pretty close bond, close relationship in general, and so, obviously, it's my job to want to see him be successful,” Stine said. “But the fact that you're committed to that relationship, it makes a big difference. It should be more than just a job in our environment, with a one-on-one type situation. It becomes a little bit more than that.

“I think it's more enjoyable to be with someone who you'd like to be with and that you have a better relationship with and you care about more on a little bit deeper level than just professionally.”

The docuseries traced Paul’s 2023 season, joining the battle to become the No. 1 American. One of the biggest moments of the year came at the US Open. Paul rallied from two sets down to defeat Roman Safiullin in the second round and keep his hopes alive.

“They should have had us mic'd up during the Safiullin match. I was going nuts during that match, I actually completely forgot I had the mic on,” Stine said. “I was dropping F bombs left and right. They must have nicely edited that, they must have made me look very, like low key.”

A match the show focussed on was Paul’s clash with Ben Shelton in the fourth round. Shelton ultimately triumphed in four sets and then ousted Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-finals.

“That was a tough match for a lot of reasons. Tommy was not at his best that day. He was struggling with some other situations and I'm not talking [about] personal things. He wasn't feeling well at all that day. He spent a fair amount of time in the loo before the match and just wasn't feeling good,” Stine said. “His stomach was really upset. It was really unfortunate from that standpoint, that I didn't feel that he was really in a position to offer his best tennis throughout the entirety of the match.

“Ben did a great job I thought in the match. We've seen Ben to get to where he's at, to be in the Top 20 after basically less than two full years on the tour and everything was super impressive. We know how dangerous the guy is. He served great, and he took his opportunities when they came up.”

According to Stine, the Netflix crew interviewed the pair in Rome for an hour each without telling them what one another said. One thing Stine mentioned was that he believes Paul does a good job finding a work-life balance.

“I think he does a very good job of putting his time in at the office, working hard, preparing and doing the things that he needs to do on court, off court to be the best tennis player that he can be,” Stine said. “But he doesn't then obsess over all of that all the rest of his time that he's away from the court. So he loves to get away. He loves to spend time with his friends. He likes to have a beer or two over playing some cornhole or playing a little bit of golf or fishing.

“Fishing is a big thing for him right now. He's always been a fisherman since he was a kid. He used to go fishing with his mom a lot and stuff when he was a kid. Now he and Franco, they've gone crazy in Florida. Every spare second they can they try to go fishing. He loves it… I think it's a really healthy escape for him to get away from the game a little bit and clear his head. I think it probably keeps you fresher in the end when you get back to the court to play.”