INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Philippe Dehaes, Daria Kasatkina’s new and understandably delighted coach, was swinging an imaginary tennis racket in the players lounge late Tuesday night.
He was showing me what he wants her to avoid: a typical tennis player’s ideal hitting zone, which is mid-hip to just below the shoulder.
“Dasha can decide,” he said, using Kasatkina’s nickname. “She can put the ball high, low, slow, short, whatever she wants, but she cannot hit the ball to those girls so they can hit it here.”
This is, of course, much more difficult than it might seem.