http://news.theage.com.au/get-your-act-together-newk-urges-gooch/20071223-1ips.html
Get your act together, Newk urges Gooch
December 23, 2007 - 3:19PM
John Newcombe has slammed Davis Cup player Chris Guccione as a serious under-achiever and is demanding answers from Tennis Australia.
Newcombe, one of the most respected figures in Australian sport, says it's high time Guccione shaped up and started realising his considerable potential.
In what will likely come as a bombshell to Guccione just a week out from the start of his summer campaign, Newcombe accused the former Wimbledon junior runner-up of being way off the pace in the professional ranks.
While acknowledging that niggling injuries might have set him back this season, Newcombe maintained a lack of fitness - and TA's failure to send the 22-year-old to revered coach and fellow left-hander Tony Roche - were behind Guccione's inability to crack even the world's top 80.
Guccione reached a career-high No.88 in July and is currently ranked 91st - but Newcombe says that's simply not good enough.
"Geez, with his height and his serve, he could be f***ing lethal out there," Newcombe told AAP.
"He should be top-30 in the world and trouble anyone if he was properly fit."
Newcombe said although Guccione troubled world No.3 Novak Djokovic in a tight three-set Davis Cup loss to the Serb in September, he also felt Guccione's movement in the match was "embarrassing" at times.
"He can't move left and right," Newcombe said. "It was a bit embarrassing.
"Soon as he got in a rally that went over four or five shots and (Djokovic) moved him ... forget it."
Newcombe said he had approached Guccione and John Fitzgerald - Newcombe's successor as Davis Cup captain - about the issue of working on Guccione's fitness.
"But it's not happening," Newcombe said.
"So why would you support Chris if he's not giving it back?
"He's been in the Davis Cup squads. I look at him and I see a kid who's 6'5, 6'6 and boy you better be f***king fit and strong in the stomach muscles and leg muscles.
"Now, I know he had a couple of injuries, so I'm not speaking like I know the inside situation.
"(But) if I was in charge of Chris, I would take him off the circuit for two months and I'd get the best athletic trainer I could find and teach him how to run and move and to build his stomach muscles and his leg muscles up so that he's got lateral movement."
Guccione, 6'7 - or 201cm, and the second tallest player in the world's top 100, couldn't be expected to be as mobile as Roger Federer, but Newcombe said his concerns were broader in that Tennis Australia was not doing all it could to develop talent here.
He said player development director Craig Tiley deserved some praise for improving Australia's fortunes since joining TA in mid-2005 but found it incomprehensible that Guccione had not been directed to Roche, who coached world No.1s Federer, Patrick Rafter and Ivan Lendl to a combined 14 grand slam titles.
"Tell me this, who's the left-handed tennis player, former great player who's got one of the best backhand volleys of all times? Tony Roche," he said.
"Who is the Optus director of tennis (in Australia) who anyone can go to and it doesn't cost them anything to go there?
"Ask me if Guccione's ever been sent to Tony? No.
"Do you want to know why? So would I ... it's a f***ing good question.
"And who understands better than anyone the work ethic required to be able to report back to Tennis Australia if Chris has the right work ethic.
"Work two weeks with Tony and Tony will tell you whether he's lazy or whether he's got it because he will work in five hours and, if he can survive, then he'll get a good report.
"If he can't do, then Tony's going to say he doesn't have it.
Newcombe said he didn't mean to attack Tiley.
"I've got no axe to grind. I don't give a shit," he said.
"I just want to see the best possible thing done and I don't see the best possible thing being done in some very important circumstances.
"We've come a long way but there's still some things I don't understand.
"They might sit back and say `well, Newk's just saying go with the old blokes, they know better'.
"I'm not saying that. To me, we're 70 per cent on the way. There's another 30 per cent we could be doing to polish it off.
"And I'm speaking as someone who knows what it takes to get to the top of the mountain."
Tiley was in his native South Africa and unavailable for comment
Get your act together, Newk urges Gooch
December 23, 2007 - 3:19PM
John Newcombe has slammed Davis Cup player Chris Guccione as a serious under-achiever and is demanding answers from Tennis Australia.
Newcombe, one of the most respected figures in Australian sport, says it's high time Guccione shaped up and started realising his considerable potential.
In what will likely come as a bombshell to Guccione just a week out from the start of his summer campaign, Newcombe accused the former Wimbledon junior runner-up of being way off the pace in the professional ranks.
While acknowledging that niggling injuries might have set him back this season, Newcombe maintained a lack of fitness - and TA's failure to send the 22-year-old to revered coach and fellow left-hander Tony Roche - were behind Guccione's inability to crack even the world's top 80.
Guccione reached a career-high No.88 in July and is currently ranked 91st - but Newcombe says that's simply not good enough.
"Geez, with his height and his serve, he could be f***ing lethal out there," Newcombe told AAP.
"He should be top-30 in the world and trouble anyone if he was properly fit."
Newcombe said although Guccione troubled world No.3 Novak Djokovic in a tight three-set Davis Cup loss to the Serb in September, he also felt Guccione's movement in the match was "embarrassing" at times.
"He can't move left and right," Newcombe said. "It was a bit embarrassing.
"Soon as he got in a rally that went over four or five shots and (Djokovic) moved him ... forget it."
Newcombe said he had approached Guccione and John Fitzgerald - Newcombe's successor as Davis Cup captain - about the issue of working on Guccione's fitness.
"But it's not happening," Newcombe said.
"So why would you support Chris if he's not giving it back?
"He's been in the Davis Cup squads. I look at him and I see a kid who's 6'5, 6'6 and boy you better be f***king fit and strong in the stomach muscles and leg muscles.
"Now, I know he had a couple of injuries, so I'm not speaking like I know the inside situation.
"(But) if I was in charge of Chris, I would take him off the circuit for two months and I'd get the best athletic trainer I could find and teach him how to run and move and to build his stomach muscles and his leg muscles up so that he's got lateral movement."
Guccione, 6'7 - or 201cm, and the second tallest player in the world's top 100, couldn't be expected to be as mobile as Roger Federer, but Newcombe said his concerns were broader in that Tennis Australia was not doing all it could to develop talent here.
He said player development director Craig Tiley deserved some praise for improving Australia's fortunes since joining TA in mid-2005 but found it incomprehensible that Guccione had not been directed to Roche, who coached world No.1s Federer, Patrick Rafter and Ivan Lendl to a combined 14 grand slam titles.
"Tell me this, who's the left-handed tennis player, former great player who's got one of the best backhand volleys of all times? Tony Roche," he said.
"Who is the Optus director of tennis (in Australia) who anyone can go to and it doesn't cost them anything to go there?
"Ask me if Guccione's ever been sent to Tony? No.
"Do you want to know why? So would I ... it's a f***ing good question.
"And who understands better than anyone the work ethic required to be able to report back to Tennis Australia if Chris has the right work ethic.
"Work two weeks with Tony and Tony will tell you whether he's lazy or whether he's got it because he will work in five hours and, if he can survive, then he'll get a good report.
"If he can't do, then Tony's going to say he doesn't have it.
Newcombe said he didn't mean to attack Tiley.
"I've got no axe to grind. I don't give a shit," he said.
"I just want to see the best possible thing done and I don't see the best possible thing being done in some very important circumstances.
"We've come a long way but there's still some things I don't understand.
"They might sit back and say `well, Newk's just saying go with the old blokes, they know better'.
"I'm not saying that. To me, we're 70 per cent on the way. There's another 30 per cent we could be doing to polish it off.
"And I'm speaking as someone who knows what it takes to get to the top of the mountain."
Tiley was in his native South Africa and unavailable for comment
