It's hard being a father to any teenager or a young woman, let alone one who is trying to succeed in a high-profile glamorous professional sport. It's even harder for the father to play dual role of coach to that same daughter as she goes from an innocent teenager to an independent woman.
Switching roles between father and coach has never been easy. That's why many a times, its necessary to sacrifice one for another.
Women's tennis has a long history of fathers who have coached their daughters to superstardom. But sooner or later, there is a price to pay and a heavy one at that.
Jelena Dokic, Mary Peirce, Mirjana Lucic and Aravane Rezai have suffered physically and emotionally thanks to their "Dads from Hell" - but its tough to say if they would have achieved more or less success on the tennis court without their fathers. At many times, it is the parent who chooses a sporting profession for their child. The fame, success and glory may never have come their way if they weren't forced to dedicate themselves to the sport by their parent early enough in life.
But that success and fame certainly exacted a huge price. Both Dokic and Lucic had to run away from their fathers and spent years away from the tennis court fighting depression. Jennifer Capriati rebelled and resorted to shoplifting and drugs to escape the tennis court - having been pushed into turning pro at the age of 14 by her father, Stefano. It was years before she managed to lay her ghosts to rest and win Grand Slams.
But not all tennis dads are from hell. Richard Williams has been the guiding force, influence and coach behind Venus and Serena Williams, who are still playing when many of their contemporaries have already hung up their rackets, and the sisters continue to pursue and succeed in interests beyond the tennis court.
Steffi Graf was coached by her father, Peter, before he realised there was nothing more he could help his daughter with on court. Graf moved on to have successful partnerships with Pavel Slozil and Heinz Gunthardt. More recently, Maria Sharapova's father Yuri decided that he had dedicated enough of his life travelling with his daughter and told her he wanted to do something else in life. Maria was happy to oblige but still talks to him nearly everyday about tennis, inspite of having a full time coach in Thmoas Hogstedt.
So yesterday's news that world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki has decided to split with her father, Piotr, as her coach and hire a former touring pro is interesting. Piotr is a former soccer player and has been instrumental in shaping his daughter's ascent to the top of the rankings at the age of 20. (Caroline has also briefly worked with Adidas Player Development coach Sven Groeneveld at various points in the past).
Many have said for a long time that Caroline should look for another coach - the Wozniackis have been criticised for playing a relentless schedule, playing too defensive and reaching the top of the rankings without winning a Grand Slam.
If Caroline and Piotr honestly feel that the Dane needs a new coach to help her achieve her tennis goals, the split could have a positive effect. But if the split was a reaction to the bad press, it might point to more troubling times ahead for the Dane.
Wozniacki lost early at the French Open and Wimbledon, and then suffered back-to-back losses in US Open tune up events in Toronto and Cincinnati to Roberta Vinci and Christna McHale - neither of them being power hitters, like the Williams sisters and Clijsters, who have been the Dane's Achilles heel earlier.
Wozniacki is still young and has handled the pressure and the relentless media barrage pretty well so far. Her greatest mistake might have been to get to the no. 1 ranking without a Slam title - something she had little control over. Her greatest move maybe the cutting of the umbilical cord from her father. We'll know soon enough in New York when the US Open gets underway.
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