Leading South African professional tennis coach and former ATP doubles player Jeff Coetzee has signed a new coaching deal with rising Belgian tennis doubles team of Sander Gillé and Joran Vliegen. The Belgian duo, who are ranked 13 in the world as a team approached Coetzee after they learned that Coetzee had ended his long-standing coaching arrangement with Colombian Grand Slam winners Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah last month.
Sander Gillé, aged 30, and Joran Vliegen, 28, are ranked individually 24 and 32 respectively on the ATP world doubles ranking list. The team have won five ATP tour career titles. They reached the semi-finals of the ATP Masters in Madrid (May) and Toronto (August) this year. Coetzee said that both players had great potential. “I have watched the Belgians with interest over the years. They have made some impressive moves as a team on the world rankings and won a number of big matches against much higher ranked teams raking in important titles on the tour.”
“Joran is lefthanded which is a huge plus in the combination and to me he is a rough diamond ready to be polished and to shine. Sander is righthanded and has such a lose arm offering the team the perfect mix to break well into the world’s top 10.”
Both Gillé and Vliegen turned professional after attending college in the USA where their enjoyed great success playing the NCAA. “The exciting part for me is that I love challenges and there is no substitute for hard work with these two guys. They are very eager to learn, and they believe in me by their side and have set goals with me as coach to break into the worlds top ten and go deep into the majors and win some Grand Slams” continued Coetzee.
The year 2021 was a tough year for the Belgian pair with both sustaining injuries throughout year. “One thing I want is to assist the boys in staying healthy and change their nutrition” added Coetzee. Coetzee will jet off to join the Belgians on 27 December 2021 for the opening tournaments of the 2022 season in Australia.
ATP Doubles · Belgium · Jeff Coetzee · Joran Vliegen · Lotto · Sander Gille
