Following on from the interview with Alicia Molik (check out #33), this episode is with her former coach, David Taylor. Emma Doyle has the opportunity to interview David at Melbourne Park while he was working with many of the up and coming top Aussie players.
Here are some of the highlights from David long-standing career coaching.
- Began playing tennis aged eight and started coaching in 1992
- Became a coach on the WTA Tour in 1995, based out of the Hopman Tennis Academy in the US · Touring WTA coach from 1995 to 2000
- Coached at the Saddlebrook Tennis Academy in Florida from 1995-2000
- Appointed by Tennis Australia as the national women’s travelling coach in 2001, working with Alicia Molik, Evie Dominikovic and Nicole Pratt · Nominated Australian Fed Cup coach in 2002 and 2003
- Coached several top 20 WTA players, including former World Number 1’s Martina Hingis and Ana Ivanovic, US Open Champion Sam Stosur and Olympic bronze medallist Alicia Molik
- Appointed captain of the Australian Fed Cup team in 2006 and has led the team for seven ties
- Named the Australian Institute of Sport’s tennis program women’s coach in 2007, working with Casey Dellacqua, Jessica Moore and, currently, Stosur
- Coached the Australian women’s team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
- Guided Sam Stosur to her maiden Grand Slam title, the 2011 US Open
- Stepped down from the role of Fed Cup captain in December 2012 (Alicia Molik was named captain in January 2013) to focus on coaching Sam Stosur
- David Taylor and Sam Stosur parted ways in August 2013; they reunited in April 2015
- In between, he worked with Croatian-born Australian Ajla Tomljanovic
