aipei, March 6 (CNA) Taiwanese tennis player Hsieh Su-wei said Tuesday that meeting her coach, Paul McNamee, helped her overcome depression and pushed her game to new heights.
The world ranking of the 26-year-old has risen to 78 after she won the BMW Malaysian Open last Sunday. At the end of 2011, Hsieh's world ranking was 172.
McNamee began coaching Hsieh at the 2011 Wimbledon tournament, helping her get through to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles.
"I was really depressed when I went to Wimbledon and I was in terrible condition," said Hsieh. "I was not expecting McNamee to get me through to the mixed doubles semi-finals."
McNamee happened to be leading a group of teenage female tennis players to Wimbledon at the time Hsieh decided to hire him, so she did not have to pay for his air fare or food and accommodation, although she had to pay a coaching fee.
Hsieh said McNamee made her feel very relaxed and that he got to know her well.
The 57-year-old Australian player was once ranked as the world's number one doubles player by the Association of Tennis Players (ATP) and took 23 doubles titles during his career, including four Grand Slams.
McNamee has even beaten former world number one John McEnroe of the United States.
However, Hsieh said, she can only afford to hire him to coach her through 10 tournaments.
"Basically, McNamee will definitely be attending the four major Grand Slams, but whether I can hire him for the remaining tournaments will remain to be seen, " said Hsieh.
(By Lung Bo-an and C.J. Lin)
