Ginepri, Kinney out of Team ‘Foe

In the wake of the surprise parting of the ways of new world No. 1 Naomi Osaka and coach Sascha Bajin, nothing much would surprise.

But another fairly high-profile team broke up before the start of the 2019 season. And it seems to have gone virtually unnoticed.

American Frances Tiafoe, who is at a career-high No. 29 after reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, dismissed both coach Robby Ginepri and longtime trainer Paul Kinney at the end of the 2018 season.

Tiafoe, 21, is the No. 2 ranked American behind John Isner.

Kinney, notably, had been with Tiafoe for more than three years, since he was a teenager playing the Challenger circuit.

Ginepri also had in the picture for several years, although not on a completely full-time basis as he would be on hand for the bigger events. Some of the day-to-day work fell to assistant coach Zack Evenden.

No new team in place yet

“Even though he had an obviously successful 2018, Frances made a decision to shake things up a few weeks ago. As such, he will no longer be working with either Robby Ginepri or Paul Kinney,” was the statement from his management at the end of the 2018 season.

Tiafoe traveled Down Under with Evenden, and the USTA coaches lent a hand during the Australian summer.

The plan was that Tiafoe would have a new team together following the Australian Open. But as of this week, as he plays the New York Open on a wild card as the No. 2 seed, nothing has yet been finalized.