Battling egos and stereotypes - the rise of female tennis coaches

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Mirra Andreeva became the first female-coached Grand Slam singles champion since Garbine Muguruza won Wimbledon in 2017 - both landing titles with Conchita Martinez By Emily Salley BBC Sport journalist Published 1 hour ago The coaching box is one of the most visible places in tennis. Players often glance towards it after every point. Television cameras pan to it dozens of times during a match. Commentators spend time trying to dissect the reactions of those within it. But if you look closely, whether at regular tour events or at Wimbledon in the coming fortnight, you will usually see most of the coaching staff inside it are men. Female coaches, even at the top of the women's game, are a rarity. Only four players inside the top 50 in singles have a woman as their primary coach. Yet it was one of those players that walked away with the French Open trophy this year as Conchita Martinez - a former Wimbledon winner - guided 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva to her first Grand Slam title. Numbers are growing and a handful of female coaches are thriving at the very top of the game. But in a sport like tennis, which prides itself on gender equality, why are there still so few full-time female coaches, and what is being done to tackle the issue? 'I want to thank myself' - Andreeva's journey to Grand Slam glory Published 6 June In the foothills of the Dolomites, a champion was made Dealing with 'egos' in a changing landscape When Andy Murray hired former world number one Amelie Mauresmo as his coach in 2014, the decision was met with a wave of sexist backlash that shocked Murray. Murray's partnership with Mauresmo is one of the few examples of a female coach working at the top of the men's game, but the scarcity of women in coaching goes beyond the ATP Tour. In 2017, women made up just 6% of registered coaches on the WTA Tour - the women's circuit. That figure has more than tripled since, rising to 19% in 2026. The perceptions that Murray experienced when he appointed Mauresmo 12 years ago still exist, while family commitments, a relentless calendar and constant travel all play a part in why there are not so many women in top-level coaching. Sandra Zaniewska, the coach of world number 13 and French Open semi-finalist Marta Kostyuk, believes the "landscape is changing" - but she has seen the barriers up close. "Women, when they finish playing, usually think of starting a family and travelling less," says Zaniewska, a former player who never planned to go into coaching. "If I had children, I'm sure that I wouldn't be travelling. "It's why I don't think that it's ever going to be 50-50 [the split of male-female coaches] - but there is space and the landscape is changing." Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Zaniewska and Kostyuk have been working together since 2023 Another factor is having a hitting partner - a role almost exclusively filled by men. While the biggest stars often travel with both a coach and a hitting