# Nigel Sears

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{{short description|British tennis coach (born 1957)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Nigel Sears''' (born 4 April 1957) is a British [tennis](/source/tennis) coach, best known for coaching former top five players [Amanda Coetzer](/source/Amanda_Coetzer), [Daniela Hantuchová](/source/Daniela_Hantuchov%C3%A1), Anett Kontaveit and [Ana Ivanovic](/source/Ana_Ivanovic) during his long career.

{{Infobox tennis biography
| name                    = Nigel Sears
| image                   = 
| caption                 = 
| fullname                = 
| country                 = {{GBR}}
| residence               =
| birth_date              = {{birth date and age|1957|4|4}}
| birth_place             = [Watford, Hertfordshire](/source/Watford%2C_Hertfordshire), England
| height                  = 6 ft 0 in
| retired                 =
| plays                   = Right-handed
| careerprizemoney        = <!-- not found -->
| singlestitles           = 0
| highestsinglesranking   = No. 382 (4 January 1982)
| doublestitles           = 0
| highestdoublesranking   = No. 581 (2 January 1984)
| AustralianOpenDoublesresult = –
| FrenchOpenDoublesresult     = –
| WimbledonDoublesresult      = –
| USOpenDoublesresult         = –
}}

==Playing career==
Sears reached a career high singles ranking of World No. 382 on 4 January 1982, and a career high doubles ranking of World No. 581 on 2 January 1984.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atptour.com/en/players/nigel-sears/s032/overview|title=Nigel Sears: ATP Tour; Tennis|website=ATP Tour}}</ref> He lost his only professional singles match, but won two of the ten professional doubles matches he played.

==Coaching career==
Nigel Sears started coaching Slovakia's [Daniela Hantuchová](/source/Daniela_Hantuchov%C3%A1) in 2001. Under his guidance, Hantuchová reached the world's top ten, won the [Indian Wells](/source/2002_Pacific_Life_Open) tournament in California (though that would be her only career title until exactly five years later) and reached three consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals between the [2002 Wimbledon Championships](/source/2002_Wimbledon_Championships) and the [2003 Australian Open](/source/2003_Australian_Open) (losing twice to [Serena Williams](/source/Serena_Williams) and once to [Venus Williams](/source/Venus_Williams) respectively).

At the 2003 French Open, Hantuchová lost a marathon second round match to [Ashley Harkleroad](/source/Ashley_Harkleroad) in which she made over 100 unforced errors, which led to Sears publicly criticising her attitude.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/a-towering-talent-20030629-gdvylw.html|title=A towering talent|date=29 June 2003|website=The Age}}</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/frenchopen/2404945/Angry-Sears-lays-into-Hantuchova.html Angry Sears lays into Hantuchova] ''The Daily Telegraph''</ref> Having reached a career high ranking of World No. 5 earlier in the year, Hantuchová's results continued to deteriorate and by the end of the year she had dropped to No. 17, leading to a decision to temporarily split with Sears.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/3245989.stm|title=Hantuchova splits with coach|date=6 November 2003|publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref>

Sears and Hantuchová reunited in 2004,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/sports/2004/mar/10tennis.htm|title=Hantuchova rehires Sears|work=Rediff}}</ref> but on-court results did not improve, as Hantuchová further slipped down to World No. 54 before a late season resurgence saw her finish the season ranked World No. 31 and with an even win–loss record (24 wins and 24 losses).

The pair split permanently in 2006,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/4941978.stm|title=Hantuchova parts with coach again|date=25 April 2006|publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref> after which Sears was appointed the captain of the [Great Britain Fed Cup team](/source/Great_Britain_Fed_Cup_team).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6169759.stm|title=Sears appointed Fed Cup captain|date=11 December 2006|publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref>

In June 2011, Sears was appointed the head coach of former WTA World No. 1 [Ana Ivanovic](/source/Ana_Ivanovic), with a view of reviving her ailing career.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=6721594|title=British tennis chief to coach ex-No. 1 Ivanovic|date=30 June 2011|website=ESPN.com}}</ref> Since his appointment, Ivanovic's performances at [Grand Slam tournaments](/source/Grand_Slam_(tennis)) improved, and at the [2012 US Open](/source/2012_US_Open_(tennis)) she was finally able to reach her first quarter-final at that level since winning the [2008 French Open](/source/2008_French_Open).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-04/ruthless-serena-storms-into-quarter-final/4241286|title=Ruthless Serena storms into quarter-final|date=3 September 2012|website=www.abc.net.au}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thetennisspace.com/2012/09/five-things-about-the-revival-of-ana-ivanovic/|title=Five things about the revival of Ana Ivanovic|date=4 September 2012|website=The Tennis Space}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wtatennis.com/news/20120905/stats-corner-majors-between-titles-qfs_2256076_2911617|title=Women's Tennis Association – Official Website|website=Women's Tennis Association}}</ref>

Sears and Ivanovic parted ways following [Wimbledon 2013](/source/2013_Wimbledon_Championships), in which Ivanovic was defeated in the second round by [Eugenie Bouchard](/source/Eugenie_Bouchard).<ref>[http://anaivanovic.com/news/ana-and-sears-part-ways Ana and Sears parts ways] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708090413/http://anaivanovic.com/news/ana-and-sears-part-ways |date=8 July 2013 }}, The Ana Ivanovic official website</ref>

In July 2015 Sears was reappointed by Ivanovic.<ref>[http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/07/ivanovic-again-working-coach-nigel-sears/55707/ Ivanovic again working with coach Nigel Sears], Tennis Magazine</ref> During the [2016 Australian Open](/source/2016_Australian_Open) Sears collapsed in the players box with an allergic reaction whilst watching an Ivanovic match. He was taken to hospital, but released the following morning.<ref>[http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/tennis/76199116/nigel-sears-due-to-leave-hospital-after-australian-open-collapse Nigel Sears due to leave hospital after Australian Open collapse], Stuff.co.nz</ref> He subsequently laid the blame on an allergic reaction to sushi.<ref>[http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2016/02/nigel-sears-recounts-australian-open-collapse-murrays-reaction/57653/ Nigel Sears explains Australian Open collapse, Murray's reaction], Tennis Magazine</ref> The partnership ended for a second time with Ivanovic's retirement from tennis in December 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38453004|title=Ivanovic retires from tennis aged 29|publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref>

Sears began working with [Ekaterina Makarova](/source/Ekaterina_Makarova) in the summer of 2017.<ref name="Makarova">{{Cite web|url=https://www.anettkontaveit.ee/news-and-announcements/kontaveit-has-ended-the-contract-with-schaap-and-will-now-be-coached-by-a-british-coach|title=Anett Kontaveit: Kontaveit has ended the contract with Schaap and will now be coached by a British coach|website=Anett Kontaveit: Kontaveit has ended the contract with Schaap and will now be coached by a British coach}}</ref> in June 2018 he began coaching the Estonian player [Anett Kontaveit](/source/Anett_Kontaveit) but that arrangement came to an end in April 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.err.ee/1608191278/anett-kontaveit-gets-new-coach|title=Anett Kontaveit gets new coach|date=26 April 2021|website=ERR}}</ref>
Sears coached Emma Raducanu in 2021 to the Wimbledon 4th round. 

In May 2023 Wang Xiyu hired Nigel Sears as her coach. https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3340269/after-hiring-nigel-sears-wang-xiyu-eager-to-learn-on-the-job

Sears was a regular commentator for [BT Sport](/source/BT_Sport), who used to cover the WTA in the UK.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

==Personal life==
Sears was born in [Watford, Hertfordshire](/source/Watford%2C_Hertfordshire), and now lives elsewhere in the south of England. He is married and has two children.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} His daughter, Kim, married tennis player [Andy Murray](/source/Andy_Murray) in 2015.<ref name="bbcwedding">{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-32252206| title=Andy Murray marries girlfriend Kim Sears in Dunblane | publisher=BBC News| accessdate=11 April 2015|date=11 April 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{ATP|s032}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sears, Nigel}}
Category:1957 births
Category:Living people
Category:English tennis coaches
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:British male tennis players

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nigel Sears](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Sears) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Sears?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.