CHILE: TENNIS - Argentine tennis player Guillermo Coria hires Chilean Horacio de la Peña as his new coach

Former number three in the world Guillermo Coria began practice with his new coach Horacio de la Pena on Thursday (August 10) in the Chilean capital Santiago as part of his plan to return to the world circuit. Coria, who was runner-up at the 2004 French Open, dropped from the world circuit over the past year after a series of bad performances. The 24-year-old has now dropped down to an ATP ranking of 42. The Argentine clay-court specialist introduced De la Pena as his new coach at a news conference on Wednesday (August 9), saying he needed help to rebuild his game and his confidence. "To recover the happiness to be on court, to return and well, to make it work in the long term. I hope that we can do these things well and I think, everyone has to do their part," he said in a news conference in Santiago on Wednesday where he will make his preparations to return to the circuit. Chilean-born De la Pena, who reached number 31 in the world as a player before turning to coaching, says his new player has a lot of potential. "He is in a low point. One has to halt that decline and one day he has to feel it, enter the court and the other (player) will see, will see the old Guillermo and that's it. There is no player in the world that does not fear Guillermo Coria when he is standing in the court," he said. De la Pena finished coaching compatriot Fernando Gonzalez in April and is now preparing Coria for the US Open, which gets underway on August 28. While under the guidance of De la Pena, Fernando Gonzalez won six titles along with one gold and one bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

ITN Source | August 12, 2006

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