Maria Sakkari introduces her new coach

The NFL is not the only place where there is a coaching carousel. Jessica Pegula and Maria Sakkari split with their longtime coaches earlier this year. Pegula had been with David Witt for four years, and Sakkari worked with her former coach Tom Hill for six years.

Pegula named her new coaches, Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein, and Merklein made his debut traveling with her to San Diego. Now it is Sakkari's turn to name her new coach. He is Pegula's former coach, David Witt. Witt will begin traveling with Sakkari this week at Indian Wells.

Ironically, when Mark Knowles called Jessica Pegula's quarterfinal match for Tennis Channel on Friday night, he spoke highly of David Witt and his excellent work with Pegula, getting her to the quarterfinal round of every Grand Slam. Witt also coached Venus Williams from 2007-2018.

What Witt will do for Sakkari

I believe both coaching changes are good, and that is not a slight on either Witt and Hill in their work with Pegula and Sakkari. Pegula and Sakkari are 30 and 28 respectively and want to win Grand Slams before they call it a career. Despite struggles in recent years, Sakkari is a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist (2021 French Open and 2021 US Open).

Sakkari's issues seem to be confidence-related because she has the fitness and game to be a contender in every tournament. Figuring out how to give her the necessary confidence is Witt's immediate task. It will also be fun to see how it goes when Pegula plays Sakkari which is bound to happen at some point this spring or summer.

The remaining question is who will Tom Hill coach next? Prior to Hill coaching Sakkari, he coached Danielle Collins. At 29 years old, he is one of the youngest coaches on the WTA or ATP Tour. He has plenty of years ahead of him to coach players so it is a matter of when not if we hear whose team he will join next.

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