Tennis-Dolg can be best in show, says coach

Alexandr Dolgopolov honed his craft belting practice balls at Boris Becker as a plucky child of the tour and only hard work and time separates him from mixing with the modern greats of the game, according to his coach Jack Reader.

As a 46th-ranked upstart, the flashy Ukrainian lit up Melbourne Park with a brilliant run last year, knocking out fourth seed Robin Soderling before taking a set off Andy Murray in a tension-charged quarter-final.

The exquisite shot-maker now stands on the verge of the top 10, building quietly before a third-round clash of rising stars on Friday when he will battle Bernard Tomic and a centre court crowd firmly in the Australian's corner.

Behind the 23-year-old's rise is Reader, a leathery-faced chain-smoker who shares Dolgopolov's long hair and taste for fast cars, and convinced him to celebrate his natural, mercurial game, rather than stifle it as previous coaches had tried and failed.

"I told him to wave that wand around and do some stuff and slowly he's coming within the lines," Reader told Reuters in the players' lounge at Melbourne Park while puffing on a cigarette.

"But you don't want him completely in the lines, because that's his forte, that's his strength, isn't it?

"I don't want him going conservative because guys don't really know what's going to happen next with him. It's an advantage, it's no fun (for opponents) sitting out there not knowing."

The world number 13's game has been described by one tennis writer as like his name -- you never know what's coming next -- a clean hitter capable of bamboozling opponents with slice, spin and treacherous changes of pace.

The son of a former pro and prominent coach -- his father Oleksandr trained Ukraine's former world number four Andrei Medvedev -- Dolgopolov grew up on the tour bashing balls around with greats of the men's game.

"He got to go on the court for 15, 20 minutes, half-an-hour with all of the top guys. Becker hit with him, (Austrian Thomas) Muster hit with him," Reader said.

"A little kid hitting the heck out of the ball and they would get it whether it was going out or whatever.

"So he just let his arm go free and I think he grew up waving it and finding it because it didn't matter if it would go to the back fence the boys would have probably got it back.

"That's how I feel he got a lot of his style."

HOT AND COLD

The often high-risk, low-percentage style keeps crowds entertained but also blows hot and cold, and the Ukrainian's 2011 season was peppered with first-round exits.

Attempts to change his game came to nothing, and his father's attempts to do so as his first proper coach led to a difficult split. Dolgopolov's first name was originally the same spelling as his father's before he changed it.

Reader believes Dolgopolov was looking for a breath of fresh air when he agreed to take on the laid-back Australian as his coach.

The pair shared hotel rooms on the Challenger tour to save costs when they first started out and they still enjoy nights out together. Reader often visits Kiev with the player to spend time with his family. They plan to spend more time in the former Soviet republic.

"This year we're going to cut down the schedule a lot more.

His rankings just kept climbing (last year) so we didn't really have a well-prepared schedule. Now he's got a decent ranking and he's not going to drop more than a great deal for a long time.

"So he'll be fresher when he goes in a lot of tournaments."

That gives his coach confidence that Dolgopolov can knuckle down on the practice court and do the work needed to make and stay in the top 10, rather than relying solely on his sublime gifts.

"He's certainly got the X-factor. There's other parts that we'll need to put together but that's theoretically the easy parts. A bit more discipline, a bit more fitness.

"These other guys, they live for tennis. He plays tennis to live. He enjoys it."

Dolgopolov, who has survived two taxing five-set matches already at Melbourne Park this tournament, faces another test of his mental fortitude against the up-and-coming Tomic at the 15,000-seat Rod Laver Arena.

Reader was famously missing from Dolgopolov's player's box when then fifth-seeded Murray took control of their quarter-final last year, having gone for a convenience break at a crowded toilet and struggling to get back into the stadium quickly.

He's likely to drink less fluids ahead of the Tomic match for which he has given Dolgopolov simple, but sage advice.

"I just remind him, 'you're making money doing it, and you're making good money'," he said.

"And if you keep enjoying doing it, you're going to make better money so don't forget that. There's no pressure on you.

"Just enjoy, mate, have a good time."

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