Meet Jose Higueras, the coach behind some of tennis' very best players

You don't just stumble into greatness. It takes a constant work effort and many trials and tribulations to perfect one's craft.

Jose Higueras is a great in the field of tennis coaching, a profession he's been a part of since retiring as a player several decades ago. The self-proclaimed Spanish Cowboy's path was interesting, but his timing was impeccable. He became a fixture in American tennis at a time when one of their greatest generations was coming into their formative years, using that as the foundation to hone his skills and build his reputation. Higueras has worked with solid tour players and major champions, and with both men and women. The USTA even hand-picked him to head up their elite player development department, and the ripples of that positive decision are still being felt today.

Higueras has never wavered from his principals about the game, the respect he betsows oupon others, and the standards he requires of both himself and his players. He dove into all of that and more on this week's episode of the Tennis Channel Inside-In Podcast.

Higueras grew up in Spain before it became the tennis power it is today. He reached two major semifinals as a player, but like many individuals, found that he wasn't ready to be done with tennis when his playing days concluded. After working with Mary Joe Fernandez for a bit, the USTA reached out regarding their new player development program.

"I started to do some work with them as an independent contractor. So I gave them like 25 weeks per year. And my first two guys that I coached were Michael Chang and Pete Sampras. So I was pretty lucky."

Chang won the 1989 Roland Garros title under Higueras' tutelage, validating the coach as one of the premier minds in the sport.

But there was another American who soared to new heights under his guidance: Jim Courier won four major titles with Higueras at the helm, including a dramatic come-from-behnd triumph at Roland Garros in 1991 against Andre Agassi. Higueras provided the tatcial advice during a rain delay in that match for Courier to back up a few feet on Agassi's serve, which gave his player the decisive edge the final progressed.

"When I met Jim, it was very clear to me that he will do whatever it took to get the best out of him, " Higueras recalled. "Jim was, I would say, a pretty easy guy to work with. Because he has the best ingredient that a champion has, which is the desire to become the best player that they can be."

Higueras had experiences coaching some of the world's best players, but none quite as famous as Roger Federer. In 2008, Higueras got to witness the Swiss Maestro's brilliance up close, and he came away more in awe of the special qualities that made Federer an all-time great.

"The one thing I learned when you work with a player of that caliber, because there aren't many, is that they know a lot. They may actually know more than me. So I have to be pretty careful with what I say," Higueras explained. "I mean he loves to play tennis, and probably the most important part is how well he carries himself, how sincere and geniune he is when he relates to people. I've seen that first-hand with him dealing with people when there were no cameras and nobody watching."

The coach also explained why the ultra-skilled talents like Federer and Carlos Alcaraz are not as easily bounded by structure.

"They play by instinct a lot more than other players that you can actually structure. That's another thing I actually learned from him."

Despite all of the accolades and crowning achievements in Higueras' coaching career, there is one thing that he remains the most proud of. In 2008 he was nabbed to run the USTA's elite development program, and building tennis in America from the ground up.

It wasn't easy, evident by the more than two million miles Higueras did on air travel, but the results speak for themselves. Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and Reilly Opelka all came through that system, and all speak glowingly about their experiences competiting and growing into the best tennis players that they could be.

"My main goal when we started that was changing the culture," Higueras reminisced. "When you see a kid like Frances, or Taylor, or Tommy, or Reilly, or any of these boys, you can see that they like to play but they needed structure.They needed structure and they needed a program that they were going to follow on a daily basis."

Higueras put the time in, laid the groundwork, and was the driving force behind the resurgence we are now seeing in American men's tennis.

One of the most respected minds in tennis, Higueras made a mark on the sport that will stand the test of time. In 2023, he was honored by the ATP with the Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award, a testament to the critical acclaim he has among his peers.

This podcast features Higueras doing what he does best, teaching the game of tennis to those who are eager to learn.