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Coach Felix Mantilla is determined to help Lucas Pouille rediscover his old game and once again be one of the best players on the tour. Pouille, 28, was once a top-10 player and a regular participant of the tour events. Now, Pouille is ranked at No.
157 in the world and he is playing mainly on the Challenger Tour. This month, Pouille announced Mantilla as his new coach. Mantilla joined Thierry Ascione, who has been working with Pouille for quite some time. Pouille, who underwent an elbow surgery in 2020, has been struggling with his game in recent years.
Mantilla: Pouille is working to return to his old form
“The important thing is to know where you are at all times, you can't live forever in the past. Lucas knows where he is, but he's working to get back there. It's a process of several weeks, but I'm sure in some time we'll see the best Lucas again […] I have a very clear objective, but it's a medium to long term objective, so I better keep it to myself.
At the end of the year and with a view to next season, he must rediscover the feeling of what Lucas was like when he was playing at the best level, this dangerous profile that no one wanted to face. From there, adding everything we work on and improving, getting back to the top is the main goal," Mantilla told Punto de Break, as quoted on We Love Tennis.
Pouille and Mantilla debuted as a team at the Madrid Challenger last week. In their first tournament together, Pouille reached the Madrid quarterfinal before losing to Roberto Carballes Baena. This week, Pouille competed at the Prague Challenger, where he was beaten by Emilio Nava in the first round.
Pouille didn't enjoy a great week in Prague but at least he was announced as a Madrid Masters recipient.