Nicolas Todero played on the pro tour from 1998-2009 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 219 in 2004. During his playing career, Todero won 10 ITF Futures events and competed in qualifying at all four Grand Slam tournaments. Todero turned to coaching after retiring from the tour and formerly worked with American player Jesse Levine. He became a USTA National Coach for Men's Tennis in 2010 and now coaches rising star Frances Tiafoe, who is ranked a career-high No. 97 in the world. In Todero’s second blog for USTA.com, he talks about his life as a coach, both when he is at home and when he is traveling with a player on the road.
By Nicolas Todero, USTA National Coach
There are many different scenarios that make my job exciting. In order to give you an idea of how a normal day as a national coach looks, I want to take you through my day while I am in Orlando at the USTA National Training Center and while being on the road at a tournament.
Let’s start with the most important thing in my life – cooking breakfast for my son Joaquin and my daughter Emma before we all start our day. After that, a 20-minute walk with our “puppy.” Just kidding! He’s a 110-pound German Shepherd named Tyson. Then I head over to the new National Training Center in Lake Nona, Orlando. I am a pretty social guy, so working with such a great group of colleagues and friends is great motivation for me and makes me look forward to going to work every day.
I usually spend three hours on court in the mornings with whomever I have the privilege to work with, followed by a one-hour workout in the gym to keep myself in shape before going to lunch. Afterwards, I work on any needed tasks and projects in the office before I go back on court for another two hours. I do also have a number of meetings and other scheduled appointments that I have to attend on a regular basis. The beauty of this schedule is that I usually finish the day around 5 or 6 p.m. and still have time to play soccer, tennis or do other activities with my family.
When I am not in Orlando, I travel to tournaments with pro players for 20 to 25 weeks a year. Even though it is very rewarding to see the players succeed at tournaments and to be able to help them with everything while on the road, it is also extremely difficult to be away from my family for long periods of time.
Coach Todero with players Michael Mmoh (left) and Stefan Kozlov.
A regular day on the road depends on the amount of players I am coaching that particular week and on their practice and match schedules. Sometimes I arrive to the tournament site early in the morning and leave late at night with a short break in the middle for lunch, but that, of course, changes daily and depends on the tournament schedule. When I am not on the practice courts, I am watching the American players’ matches.
Finding a time to work out is always important, since it helps me unwind and keeps me in shape. To conclude the day, I usually have dinner with colleagues or players at different restaurants to make it more fun. Sometimes players are superstitious and want to eat dinner at the same place every night. A coach does anything to make the player feel comfortable, so those weeks we just have to do with a little less variation. Later in the evening, I FaceTime with my family, watch some TV or read a book and get ready for a good night of sleep.
As you can see, while being at home, my days are more predictable, but while on the road, there really is no set schedule. While on the road, my mindset also changes into competition mode, and I truly enjoy every bit of the adrenaline rush. It is this combination of weeks in Orlando and weeks on the road that makes my job so interesting and motivating.
This will be my last blog for now since my hospital bag is by the front door, and we will be welcoming baby No. 3 (boy) any day now.
RELATED: Nicolas Todero blog No. 1: The many reasons I love to coach