Hernan Gumy was a former tennis player who represented Argentina. He reached a career-high of 39 in the ATP rankings and won a gold medal for Argentina at the Pan-American Games back in 1995. After a ten-year professional career, Gumy went onto coach tennis legend Marat Safin and current player Ernests Gulbis. Gumy ended his relationship with Gulbis because of his schedule.
Gumy Discusses Safin’s Attitude On Tennis
First up, the Argentine was asked about Safin’s approach to tennis and comparing it to Gulbis’. Both players are known for being hot-headed on the court and being very vocal and emotional. Gumy talked about the similarities between the two players he coached.
"The first thing Safin told me was how he was fed up with tennis,” Gumy said. "He was an incredible player. Often he had unexpected loss in smaller tournaments, but then he was able to show all his talent in the Slams. He and Gulbis were disrespectful with opponents in a good way. Their performance, especially Ernests ones, depended on their motivations."
Gumy then opened up to talk about a story between Safin and Novak Djokovic which took place in Wimbledon seven and a half years ago. "We were in Wimbledon in 2008. He had to face probably Novak Djokovic in the second round. Marat told me that he would have won. There was a little bit of resentment between the two players. He gave Marat an incredible lesson. Safin and Gulbis are good for tennis. It's a sport where you are alone against yourself, and they defend themselves with the egoism, without having wrong behaviors with the opponents."
Marat Safin retired from tennis back in 2009, just over a year after his incident with Djokovic. The Russian went onto win two Grand Slam titles in his career, winning the 2000 US Open and the 2005 Australian Open. His 2005 Australian Open victory saw him defeat Roger Federer in the semifinals, knocking out the defending champion.