Dr. Mark Kovacs has known Frances Tiafoe since he was 12 years old. Kovacs, with the USTA at the time, worked with a group that included Tiafoe, Reilly Opelka, Taylor Fritz, Stefan Kozlov and Michael Mmoh.
Fifteen years ago, Tiafoe and the rest of the group were not competing on the world’s biggest stages like they are today. They were putting in the hard yards on and off the court, dreaming of eventually being where they are today.
“Great person, super friendly with everyone, has an unbelievable heart, loves the game of tennis, loves to practise, loves to train, loves to be out on court, and loves to watch tennis as well,” Kovacs told ATPTour.com of Tiafoe. “He's the same person and I’ve worked with him in the purest form. It wasn't at the Grand Slams. It was on back courts, no one around, grinding for hours, working on your game, working on your fitness, doing all those types of things.
“That's sort of the same environment we're trying to create again. It's like, ‘Hey, this is the pure love for the sport’. Commit to what you’re great at, work on the details, be as consistent and deliberate as we possibly can.”
Already a two-time US Open semi-finalist and a 2019 Australian Open quarter-finalist, Tiafoe on Friday evening will play sixth seed Alex de Minaur inside Rod Laver Arena, the No. 1 court at Melbourne Park. On this big occasion, Kovacs is by Tiafoe’s side again.
They have kept in touch over the years, while Kovacs, known for his high-performance and performance physiology work as well as sports technology consultancy, has helped many clients across different sports and industries.
At the end of last season, Tiafoe was making changes and reached out asking if Kovacs could help, even just for a reset during the preseason. Kovacs “wants the best” for Tiafoe, so he happily obliged.
“As things went along, he asked me if I'd be willing to take more of a serious role and sort of help him on the journey,” Kovacs said. “And obviously, I had to think about it. I've got a lot of things that I do.
“But I gave him a handful of non-negotiables and said, ‘Hey, if you're willing to do these things, then let's do it’. He was willing to do these things. And I said, ‘Hey, if you're fully committed and ready to go all in, and try to get this done, then so am I’.”
According to Kovacs, their collaboration has been “great so far”. Tiafoe has been doing everything he has asked.
“He's got great ability. We all know he could play tennis at a high level,” Kovacs said. “Now it's about, ‘Can he take care of the little details on a daily basis?’”
An example for Team Tiafoe is time. Being on schedule is of the utmost importance, and Kovacs has integrated something he saw done in another sport into Tiafoe’s daily routine.
“I worked in the NBA for a few years. There's a fine system in the NBA if you're late. I have the same policy,” Kovacs said. “We abide by a fine system, all of us on the team. So it's consistent. It's not just for the player, it's for the coaches, it's for everyone else. So things like that, if you're late, there's a dollar amount that's attached to it.”
Kovacs and company have worked on changing certain habits and several things they are working towards to allow Tiafoe to perform the best he can on court.
“There's a combination of things, and most of the time, it's on things that he wants to do to get the end goal, and I'm just giving him some steps along the way,” Kovacs said. “If you really want to get these outcomes, these are the deliberate processes that we have to go through. And we're really not focused on outcome at all. It's all about daily process, daily improvement. and setting a consistent standard that we all can live to. The entire team is accountable. It’s not just him.”
Something that has been working well has been Kovacs and Tiafoe’s communication. Because they have known one another for more than half of Tiafoe’s life, they are able to cut to the chase.
“I can speak to him very differently than even I can speak to maybe other players I've worked with in the past, if we don't have the same relationship,” Kovacs said. “And he can speak to me in a different way as well. He doesn't have to bide his time, be cautious about what he says, how he says it. He knows we’re all here for a very simple purpose and we’re working together to try to see if he can achieve it.”
Tiafoe will put his efforts to the test against De Minaur, one of the toughest competitors in the sport in what promises to be a raucous atmosphere, an environment in which the 29th seed has long thrived.
“I want him to enjoy it. This is why you do this,” Kovacs said. “I tell him every day, ‘You chose this life. You made the decision to be a professional tennis player… Go out there, have as much fun as possible while following the plan, while staying on the course, while doing the things that you've been trained to do’. So that's what we want.”
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