Thierry Tulasne: Managing Social Media Has Become Very Important for Young Players

Thierry Tulasne, the coach of Australian Open junior champion Harold Mayot, says he is working with the youngster on managing the use of smartphones and social media and finds this a very important part of his job.

Speaking to L'Equipe, Tulasne says, "It is a fundamental subject. With Harold (Mayot), it is part of my training and advice work to teach him to master this. It is the one who will be the best advised and the best organized who will suffer the least or use it in a positive way. We've been talking about it for three months, but it's extremely hard for him. It's something completely addictive. This new generation is stuck on their phone. He has a hard time staying focused for a long time and it shows in the field. They are still zapping. It doesn't help to stay focused either when we debrief. After five or ten minutes I see Harold's eyes go. The application that measures the time spent on the phone shows him that it is eight, nine hours a day! Harold told me that the goal in his life was to have a certified account on Instagram. He said it with a laugh, but it's still revealing, it sums up the state of mind of this young generation."

The former World No. 10 goes on to say that the younger generation are very prone to the negative feedback that is abundant on social media. "You really have to master the tool and it's very complicated. Young people see how much the slightest victory gets a lot of adulation and the slightest defeat in detestation with insults or threats with bettors. Even if Harold has only been playing Futures for six months, he is often insulted. It's already part of his daily life. It is not positive. They are very young people, not easy to handle, sensitive, on the razor's edge, they have stress, they travel all the time. Everything touches Harold, he has access to everyone's comments. It is impossible to manage when you are sensitive, young. We want to be loved, not to be insulted, we want people to believe in us."

Tulasne says that the best possible solution is to have someone else take care a payer's social media accounts from an early age, rather than managing one's account personally and says that is what they have planned for Mayot as well.

Mayot participated in the Open 13 ATP event this week and was beaten by Frenchmen Gilles Simon in straight sets in the first round. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the ITF Junior Rankings and a career-best No. 509 in the ATP rankings.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2v2FdW9