Coach splits from rising Chinese tennis star because of star's mother
"I am no longer working with Wu," Sven Groeneveld wrote on Twitter. "He has a right to have a coach whose views are better aligned with his mother."
Sven Groeneveld, the coach of Serbia's Ana Ivanovic watches as his charge plays Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in a Women's singles semi final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008.
A renowned tennis coach who has worked with stars such as Maria Sharapova says he has split with promising Chinese teenager Wu Yibing, because of the player's mother.
The Dutchman thanked Wu "for a great past eight months" that included the 19-year-old winning silver at the Asian Games last August.
My Coaching Update: I am no longer working with Wu Yibing. In my opinion. He has a right to have a Coach whose views are better aligned with his mother. I want to thank Wu Yibing for a great past 8 months winning the Silver Medal at the #asiangames and his first win on @ATP_Tour
— Sven Groeneveld (@sventennis) January 27, 2019
Judy Murray, the mother of Britain's Andy Murray and a fellow tennis coach, tweeted in response: "Ooof those pesky mums x"
Wu has been touted as China's first potential male tennis star after winning the junior title at the 2017 US Open.
He is ranked 309 in the world as he makes his way in the men's game and showed glimpses of his potential at last year's Shanghai Masters when he took a set off Japanese star Kei Nishikori.
Groeneveld and five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova parted ways in March last year after more than four years working together.
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