Unseeded tennis star Magda Linette is currently making waves at the Australian open 2023, find out who is the coach behind her success
The Polish tennis star has managed to knock out several top seeded players and has now made her way into the semi-finals in Melbourne.
Who are Mark Gellard and Iain Hughes tennis coach of Magda Linette, their age, career and biography
SEMIFINAL🔥🔥🔥#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/ahVU0bqAHV
— Magda Linette (@MagdaLinette) January 25, 2023
SO happy for Magda Linette who really fought her way up the rankings. Despite not coming from a rich family, she went from dealing w several financial difficulties..not being able to pay her coach for nearly a year to graduating at IU East and making the QFs at AO. Jazda! 🇵🇱🔥 pic.twitter.com/e2kV9Y7bhh
— Queen Linette ✨🇵🇱 (@jazdahubi) January 23, 2023
The 30-year-old has made her way into a Grand Slam final four for the first time despite just being ranked world no.46.
Magda Linette’s incredible run at the Australian Open 2023
Magda Linette has had a truly incredible run at teh ongoing Australian open 2023. During the first round in Melbourne, she defeated Mayar Sherif and then went on to beat 16th seed Anett Kontaveit. Following which, she beat 19th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, fourth seed Caroline Garcia and then the 30th seed Karolína Plíšková.
During the quarter-finals, Linette faced a tough opponent in Plíšková, who is a former No.1. She managed to beat her with a score of 6-3, 7-5. At this point, Linette was already at a career-best run at a major. She managed to improve upon this by further reached the semis. She will now face, fifth seeded Aryna Sabalenka, in the final four who won past Donna Vekić (6-3, 6-2).
Who is the coach behind the success of Magda Linette
As Magda Linette continues to have a successful campaign, fans are wondering who is the coach behind her success. Linette actually has two coaches, Mark Gellard and Iain Hughes, who are both from England.
27-year-old Gellard reportedly began working with Linette back in 2018, when her former coach Izo Zunic ended their professional partnership. Linette and Zunic initially began working together back in 2013. Under his guidance, Linette went from World No.290 to World No.55. However, the pair developed romantic feelings for one another and things got complicated in 2018. As a result, Zunic stepped down and let Gellard take over.
Magda Linette shared about it saying:
Izo cared too much about our relationship off court to lose it because of tennis. His courage to step away to be my life partner, and to let Mark lead, was a huge part of this.
However, Zunic, is still a huge part of Magda’s team and continues to support her dearly.
Linette and Gellard first got to know one another after meeting at Alan Ma’s Star Academy in 2014, Guangzhou, China.
Mark Gellard and Ian Hughes brief bio and career
Before his coaching career, Mark Gellard played collegiately at the University of South Alabama. He graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration and later began his tennis career as a hitting partner for Martina Hingis and Nadia Petrova.
He has since then worked with Melinda Czink, Su-Wei Hsieh, Yifan Xu, Zarina Diyas, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and now currently Linette.
Linette shared about her relationship with Gellard stating:
He had really great ideas for my tennis, and we have really similar characters – we are not ultra-positive people, we both take time to open up, but we think logically and we like a lot of numbers.
On the other hand, Ian Hughes has worked as a coach for Magda on the WTA Tour since 2009. She previously worked with Belinda Bencic.