Aug 21, 2025
Bonus: Coach Ferrero searching in a camera bunker for a lost ball
Practice @ US Open 2025 | Canon R3 + EF 70-200mm f/2.8
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Bonus: Coach Ferrero searching in a camera bunker for a lost ball
Practice @ US Open 2025 | Canon R3 + EF 70-200mm f/2.8
Practice @ US Open 2025 | Canon R3 + EF 70-200mm f/2.8
An alien and his human trainer, Part Four
Practice @ US Open 2025 | Canon R3 + EF 70-200mm f/2.8
An alien and his human trainer, Part Five
Practice @ US Open 2025 | Canon R3 + EF 70-200mm f/2.8
He's alive, folks!
Practice @ AO 2025, Day 7 | Canon R3 + EF 70-200mm f/2.8
They played one (1) point at the end of practice and it went about as you might have expected it to.
"Let's hear it for Coach Andy! Let's see his serve!"
"C'mon Andy!"
"He's still got it!"
Practice @ AO 2025, Day 7 | Canon R3 + EF 70-200mm f/2.8
AO '25 Day 5: Novandy practice!
I love photographing practices. I also hate getting to them. Especially if it's a Big Name Practice, even if it's taking place on a stadium court like Rod Laver Arena or Arthur Ashe, I have to be there stupid early to ensure that I have the best vantage for shooting, as seats aren't reserved.
When I see that Novak has a 1 pm practice scheduled on the first Thursday of AO '25, his day off before Round 3, I know that means having to get there before opening time and making a beeline for his court as soon as I get onto the grounds. Or I can try my luck and wander in closer to the time; but I did that two days earlier and the situation was absolutely hopeless.
So I decide to bite the bullet today.
The Grand Slam Oval entrance to Melbourne Park around 9.20 a.m, 40 minutes before grounds opening. There are folks even crazier than me, it appears.
Left: Court 16. Right: The walkway leading from Court 16 to Court 17, where Aryna and Carlos had their practices in the hours leading up to Novak's practice.
Fortunately I have my pick of spots when I get to Court 16 a little bit before 10 a.m. Nor are the next three hours a boring wait. Ben Shelton comes on at 10.30, followed by Alex de Minaur at 11.30 and Mirra Andreeva at noon.
As 1 o' clock approaches it gets packed in the viewing area. The hour comes. We wait ... and wait ...
... and wait ...
1.14 p.m.: Where is Novak???
I'm starting to get war flashbacks to the two times I waited hours only for Novak not to show up to practice (at AO '24 and USO '24), when the man arrives--only 25 minutes late to a 90-minute slot. Better late than never, I guess.
With him is, of course, Sir Andy.
Andy greeting Novak's hitting partner, in the purple shirt.
Novak starts with a few warmups--jogging up and down the court, dynamic stretching, playing catch with his fitness trainer.
Shimmy shimmy shimmy.
Then it's down to business.
Practice is pretty standard--hitting down the center to begin, then hitting cross, rehearsing some patterns (forehand to forehand or backhand to backhand followed by a change of direction down the line). Novak has a hitting partner, but Andy is doing the feeds and giving instructions.
They spend most of their time on this, and fit the rest--net work, serves, and returns--into the last 15-ish minutes.
The returning is my favorite part of the practice. Andy would stand well inside the baseline and hit a sort of half-powered serve, without really jumping into the ball--but because he is standing so far inside the baseline, it simulates a serve with a lot of pace.
It's a cool throwback to the time these two were rivals--but now they're on the same side; which still has me pinching myself from time to time.
Speaking of those two being on the same side. What really strikes me, watching them, is how much they have to say to each other. They're yapping nonstop when Novak isn't actually hitting.
This is in stark contrast the way Novak seemed to vibe with his former coach, Goran Ivanisevic--maybe because Goran had already been with Novak for years by the time I got around to seeing them practice. But the few times I did see them practice, they hardly spoke to one another.
These two, on the other hand, just won't shut up.
Most of the chit-chat seems to be about fundamental points of technique, not match strategy. I'm sure those two can spend hours (and have spent hours) comparing notes on the finest details.
Their yapping carries on during the breaks, which probably been made much longer than standard by their yapping. Now, I'm not a lip-reader; I can't tell what they're talking about. But Novak's spoken in press about guarding himself all his career in front of Andy, his rival, and now finding himself, as Andy's player, having to open up, to have "all cards open on the table" as it were.
And there's a lot of demonstrativeness as well; a lot of encouragement. I think it's safe to say coaches are usually older than their players; but with these two being only a week apart in age, it feels like a partnership of equals. Two colleagues--dare I say friends--teaming up to see how they can keep Father Time at bay just a bit longer.
Practice ends at 2.30 sharp with a fist-bump.
Usually Novak is great about signing autographs and taking selfies. But today there's already someone else on the court when his slot expires, and he doesn't want to be distracting them while dealing with a wall of screaming fans. So he waves goodbye to us and is off.
Good luck tomorrow, champ!
Practice @ AO 2025 | Canon R3 + EF 70-200mm f/2.8
I just love accidentally awkward photos