MELBOURNE—Tomas Berdych, who upset Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, says that his new coach Dani Vallverdu helped him improve his tactics and match preparation.
In the fall, Berdych asked Ivan Lendl to be his new coach, but the eight-time Grand Slam champion declined. After that, in November, Andy Murray let go of assistant coach Vallverdu, keeping Amelie Mauresmo as his head coach. Berdych hired Vallverdu as his coach immediately after that.
Vallverdu is only 28 years old, a year younger than the 29-year-old Berdych. He is from Venezuela and briefly competed in the pros, and also attended the University of Miami in the United States.
“We set up before the match the right tactics,” Berdych said. “Then I was able to execute that on the court. That's what I'm really happy. I was playing a really good game. But I just need to look forward. The tournament is still long way to go, and that's it.
Berdych was not willing to reveal exactly what Vallverdu has adjusted in his approach. “Really, that's the preparation that we are doing for every single match,” he said. “That’s our job. I think I'm going to keep it a bit secret. That's basically what the chemistry of each team is. That would be really like pointless to setting up the tactics and the way how we want to prepare for the matches if I just open up everything here.
“But he changed a lot of things. He changed a lot of positive things. And the best is I'm really able to execute them really, really quickly. That's how it should be.”