Tennis coaches now have talent representation with Unbox Sports

NEW YORK—On the eve of the US Open's Arthur Ashe Kids' Day, a new sports agency dedicated to the team behind the players made its grand entrance at Hudson Yards.

Unbox Sports is on a mission to elevate the value of professional tennis coaches through talent representation and service consultation, and create a new community for new and veteran coaches alike.

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“At the end of the day, you all make a huge difference and you aren’t recognized enough,” said Yannick Yoshizawa, founding member and CEO of Unbox Sports, to the room full of tennis professionals during the launch event.

Yoshizawa's background in the tennis industry includes working with the WTA for nearly a decade, before transitioning to Sense Arena, Time Tennis, and now, Unbox Sports.

“We believe there is a lack of representation to put your name out there, to tell your stories consistently,” he said. “So you all can continue to do your job on court, in the physio room, in the fitness, and we can bring the opportunities to you.”

For the past five months, Unbox Sports has been testing the waters with their idea for equal representation for coaches, with a focus on dedicated benefits, universal certification, media exposure, contract negotiations, and commercial investments.

“You should not be put in a position to ask for a lot of money, especially when you have to work with that player two weeks later,” Yoshizawa said. “You never want to feel like you could’ve asked for more or that you had to settle for an offer.

"We want to support you, and if that means being the bad guy sometimes, so be it.”

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Now, with the official launch, five coaches are already a part of the Unbox team: Wim Fissette, Naomi Osaka's coach and captain of Belgium's Billie Jean King Cup team; Marta Kostyuk’s coach Sandra Zaniewska; Peyton Stearn’s coach Tom Hill; ATP and WTA coach Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh; and GPTCA National President of Brazil and WTA coach Carlos Kirmayr.

“This idea has been on my mind for many years,” Fissette said. “I always loved coaching, but looking for jobs, speaking to agents, negotiating, getting the contract done—these were all things that I didn’t like and was also difficult.

“You want to have a good contract, but you also don’t want to ask for too much because [the player] will say ‘Wow, that guy is asking for too much, let’s find someone else.’ But at the same time, you also don’t want to ask for too low for an amount."

Just as an agreeable salary supports efforts with the team and players, so too do brand deals and media exposure.

“There is so much untapped potential,” Zaniewska said. “I always felt I wanted to do more, working with players is one thing but we do have the time, we have incredible teams around us and we can do so much more. There is space for it, and there is interest for it.”

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When it comes to getting those deals, however, the opportunities in tennis aren’t as easily obtained as in other sports, like former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who was shouted out as an example of what’s possible.

“Good sponsor deals for coaches haven’t been done yet,” Fissette said. “They constantly show coaches on TV. If you watch Alcaraz, you see his coach all the time after every point.

“Compared to all the other sports, NBA, NFL, soccer, we coaches are accessible, and that’s something we have to use.”