Q&A: Coach Michael Geserer on Jennifer Brady

Germany's Michael Geserer, an ATP Top 200 pro in the 1990s and the former coach of Julia Goerges, linked up with Jennifer Brady in the during the WTA's Asian swing in the fall of 2019. After early success at the China Open, a WTA 1000 event in Beijing, where Brady won five matches to qualify and reached the Round of 16, the pair enjoyed more success in the early part of 2020, prior to the COVID-19 suspension.

 

After a pre-pandemic quarterfinal run at the Brisbane International—a WTA 500 event at which she also came through qualifying—and a semifinal at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai, Brady came back even stronger when play resumed. She won her first WTA title in her first event back, at the Top Seed Open in Lexington, Kentucky, then notched her career-best Grand Slam result with a semifinal run at the 2020 US Open.

 

With Geserer by her side, Brady's star has continued to rise in 2021. Following an Australian Open final appearance, she has earned a new career-high WTA ranking of No. 14 under the revised ranking system. Brady would be No. 4 under the standard 52-week rankings, according to a recent tennis.com analysis.

 

After the former UCLA Bruin was named February's Team USA Player of the Month, alongside Rajeev Ram, USTA.com caught up with Geserer to learn more about the pair's relationship and Brady's incredible progress in the past 18 months.

 

USTA.com: Looking back on the Australian Open, even before Jenny’s great run… what was that experience like with her being in hard quarantine? Were you also part of that part of that hard quarantine?

 

Michael Geserer: Yeah, we—the physio and athletic coach Daniel Pohl, and me—we were also part of the flight from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne.

 

USTA.com: What was that like? How did you guys stay connected with Jenny and keep spirits up and keep her keep her physically and mentally fit? How were you able to use that use that time to your benefit?

 

Michael Geserer: Actually [before we knew about the hard quarantine], we got the test results back and everybody was negative. We expected that; we were coming out of a bubble in Abu Dhabi and we were in the middle of doing some video analysis. We were positive and everything was good, preparing just for the next practice, basically.

 

And then there was an email coming in from Craig Tiley saying that we've been on a flight with one positive case, so we can't leave the room for the next 15 days.

 

It was 15 days. And then we got an extra day on a Thursday, so 16 days in total without being able to practice or to move properly. It was interesting. We knew that this could happen, but we were more than surprised. Not really shocked. But yeah, we immediately tried to think positive and to stay positive, like ‘OK, how are we going to use the 14, 15, 16 days in the room now.’

 

We asked for a connecting room with a connecting door for Daniel because he is the physio. Originally it was like a five-hour window: two hours practice, two hours gym time and one hour lunchtime. There was no real physiotherapy time. So we were asking in advance for a connecting room so that they could use the hotel time for the therapy.

 

We were fortunate. We had two small rooms for them, for Daniel and Jen, with like a connecting aisle and with a door they could close.

 

That was our benefit because they were together staying. We did a routine every day and they did their sessions, their gym sessions together. And they also removed Jenny's bed for some tennis drills, just to feel the racquet and the ball.

 

USTA.com: How were you able to be in contact with her during that time?

 

Geserer: Like we are right now. I was able to be in contact via the phone, the computer. Yeah, we could hear each other—if we would scream, then we could hear each other. We were really close by. Even my door was like a meter away from her door, but I wasn't allowed to go one step out of the room. So I didn't do that.

 

USTA.com: Did you guys work on any tactical things or mental conditioning during that time, or was it more just trying to try to stay fresh and just try to keep her busy and keep her body loose during that time?

 

Geserer: Yeah, it was more like the athletic part. We asked for some dumbbells and medicine balls and a treadmill the last two days, a small one, just for some interval training. She had a little bike after five, six days. Basically, we tried to work a lot.

 

Daniel worked with her in terms of athletics. Daniel improved his volley (laughs). They played volleys together. It was like basically about having fun, feeling the ball. And also then he was throwing balls and she was hitting balls into the mattress. But that was more just to feel the grip of the racquet, to feel the ball. It is totally different, of course, outside. Then the first two hits they were just, ‘Oh, OK. The tennis court is big coming from a small hotel room.’

 

USTA.com: Coming out of it, did you have any expectations that that that she might handle it so well and actually have that kind of run at the Australian Open? Did you think it was going to have a negative effect on the tournament?

 

Geserer: We came out and we never had that situation before. We always could move freely. We always had like one day of quarantine for 24 hours until the test results came back. For us, it was new. For everybody, it was new.

 

So what we did is just talk to her a lot. How do you feel your body? We were just more concerned about getting some injuries, because everybody was excited to go out and to hit a lot of balls.

 

We got out [of hard quarantine] at midnight and they offered us to go on site and hit then. The only thing we wanted to do is just walk around a little bit and then go to sleep, not overreact.

 

The whole time we just tried to get ready. It was like seven days for the Australian Open. We knew we had a special tournament coming with all the 28 players in quarantine, starting on Wednesday. So we had a bit of time there.

 

But we got out on Friday midnight, we hit two times that Saturday, and then on Sunday she had a match in doubles with Ash Barty. And she did quite well there already. So we knew it really didn't affect her too much.

 

So we started again slowly back on court. The expectations in the tournament—we look round to round and prepare best we can.

 

USTA.com: We definitely saw a ton of injuries throughout the tournament. So it's good that Jenny was able to work your way back into things. And one more on the on the Australian Open, just looking at the final. How did you break down that match? What was your assessment of that match and what would you like to see Jenny improve on?

 

Hopefully she's going to have a lot more meetings with Naomi in the future, hopefully in the later rounds.

 

Geserer: We knew it was going to be a tough final. Overall, what she did was amazing because the preparation time was super short. The reason why she went that far is because her mentality is great. She compensated for the lack of practice and the lack of everything that we were missing in the first 15 days with her will. She was super positive.

 

It was a situation we couldn't change and she was approaching it super positive. She was only asking, ‘How can we make the best out of that situation? I just want to be ready for the Australian Open. This is why we are here.’ This was her approach round by round.

 

She was not always playing her best tennis, but she was trying to find a way on court to survive to go to the next round.

 

We know that she can play way better tennis. She's a super hard worker and her mindset brought her to that stage. Just her positive approach, no expectations, just to go with the game plan to try everything possible to leave the court as a winner. And she did great in that respect.

 

READ MORE: Exclusive USTA.com Interview with Jennifer Brady following the 2021 Australian Open

Q&A continues below photos

USTA.com: Jenny has said that she likes how you always have a very specific plan every practice and you don't waste any time on the court. Do you typically plan out the entire practice session beforehand? Has that always been your style, to have everything very detailed and planned out throughout the day?

 

Geserer: Yeah, I like that. You're right.

 

Maybe I'm old school or whatever, but no I, I have a vision in mind how Jenny should play or how she's playing. To improve that and to see that on court, I need the practice sessions to improve. And this is why I have the plan.

 

USTA: You played quite a few sports growing up and didn't start tennis until later in life. At the USTA, we advocate for the American Developmental (ADM) model, which encourages kids to play a variety of sports so they can become well-rounded athletes. For you, how did playing so many other sports help when you did get over to tennis?

 

Geserer: I believe playing a lot of sports as a kid is great. It just helps you to understand motions, to understand the actions of others. Sports in general are great.

 

At the beginning, if you specialize too early, you maybe lack something. So, yeah, I'm a big fan also for young kids to experience a lot of variety in a lot of terms—tactical, technical skills, athletic skills you need.

 

To grow up in Bavaria, you need to go skiing. We’re close to the mountains. And that's just something great, to be in the nature and go skiing. And of course soccer in Germany is big. And track and field also. We have a few sports clubs where you can do track and field.

 

In tennis, I wasn't good enough [as a kid]. We had teams with four people—I was the fifth one, so I had to hit against the wall (laughs). So I did that. But I love tennis. I love the competition. So this is how I got into tennis.

 

USTA.com: Speaking of these different sports, do you ever use any other sports with Jenny or with your players for cross-training or things like that?

 

Geserer: Do I do that? (Smiles) Daniel does boxing with her. Yeah, I'm not good at that, but he is.

 

We played a Swedish game that I like a lot called innebandy. It's like hockey, but you can play on the tennis court, on a hard court with small goals with plastic sticks and a plastic ball with holes. I like that a lot because it's also the hand-eye coordination and the ball. This I like a lot, but I think we only played it twice. It is super fun.

 

USTA.com: You’ve been very complementary about Jenny's work ethic and the heart that she fights with on the court. Of course, we see we see her fight and her attitude during matches. But what about like what does it look like on a daily basis, away from the cameras and away from the TV? What does that work ethic look like on the on the practice court and in the gym?

 

Geserer: It’s hard to find someone with this work ethic. If she's working on something, she's working on something. There are no distractions. Today, juniors, kids, also adults… if they have a break, they maybe go to the phone, go look who was texting. I've never seen that from her and I’ve never said something like that, ‘Please don't do it,’ or something. No, she never did that.

 

Whenever she is on court, she listens. If she doesn't understand what the exercise is about, she asks. The communication is good. She is curious to get better. It's just a smart, easy communication.

 

It's always about, ‘How do I get that shot going? How do I improve here and there?’ She's looking for solutions on court. No complaints. If something is not working, she is trying to make it work.

 

USTA.com: It's been an amazing year and a half or so that you guys have been together, but where do you go from here? What can you work on to still improve? And where do you hope to take your partnership?

 

Geserer: We don't talk about numbers, but we know that she has a lot of potential left. We want to improve the serve. We want to improve her aggressive game; there is still so much we can work on. We just started. There is a lot more room. And I'm 100% sure she will be a way better player by the end of the year and next year. And she will be more dangerous.