Tennis: Ace double-act

World-ranked New Zealand and Bulgarian tennis player Pavlina Nola has a unique occupation - beating New Zealand's up-and-coming tennis talent on the court, then coaching them for international competition.

Only four years ago, Nola - who married her Kiwi husband Grant and has lived in New Zealand off and on for the past seven years - was battling the best in the world. She traded blows with the likes of Martina Hingis and the Williams sisters but for the past six months has been New Zealand's Federation Cup coach. In her daily coaching sessions, she has seen marked improvement in the girls' standard of play.

Nola remains a lively competitor and is unbeaten against the same girls in the Chelsea Cup and Caro Bowl tournaments, in Auckland.

"I haven't played for over six months, so my body is falling apart a bit," says the 30-year-old.

While competing is taking a toll, she enjoys the hands-on knowledge of how the girls are performing and says the roles are complementary.

"I don't tell them what they are doing wrong on the court, because it is really competitive, but afterwards we sit down and analyse all the tactics they used. It is working really well," she says.

"It is great because I don't get to see all the girls play week in, week out, so this way I get first-hand experience of how they are going."

Nola says it is not counter-productive to beat the girls and then try to encourage them afterwards as their coach.

"Females take everything emotionally, so playing against the girls can be tough, but we all work together a lot, so there is great support in the squad as well."

Nola was ranked 68th in the world in her prime, and says translating her playing talent to being a coach has been easy.

"The girls are great. They trust what I say 100 per cent and they put it into place with really good commitment to practice. It is a lot easier to relate to them as well because they are at my level. We talk tactics, and my experience of being on the tour really helps."

In her nine-year professional career, Nola played every top-20 player in the world, and competed at every Grand Slam event over the best six years of her career. She says playing Hingis was a lot of fun, because the points lasted a lot longer, compared with playing the Williams sisters, and there was always a chance to compete.

"They [Williams] have totally changed tennis through sheer power. They are really tough, they put so much pace and depth on the ball," she said.

"I loved it though, they are as good as it gets and I always loved the opportunity to play and learn from the best."

Nola's career is full of competing against the best but she has beaten some great players too, including top-10 players of her time such as Swiss Patty Schnyder and American Amy Frazier. Other prized scalps are Russian sensation Anastasia Myskina and 2004 US Open Finalist Elena Dementieva, currently ranked 3rd and 6th in the world respectively.

Most times she played top-20 players, Nola proudly says she took two or three games off them.

An ongoing back injury ended her professional career in 2001 after she had become New Zealand's best-ever player. While she doesn't miss the travel side of professional tennis, she says the perception of bitchiness on the women's circuit is unfair.

"That is only the case with a few. Most of the top-20 girls are very casual and very nice. We used to have a lot of fun together and left the competition on the court.

"Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova would never socialise with anyone - they would always do their own thing. They thought they were something quite special."

As a coach, Nola has tried to create an amicable environment in the Fed Cup team. It is made up of the top five women in New Zealand tennis, ranging in age from 14 to 25. Nola said that while she is hardly old, she feels like a mum for some of the younger players.

Some of the girls have found it strange playing against their coach and get nervous.

"I tell them to relax and play their own game and treat me like any other player. It is only the Caro Bowl, not Wimbledon."

The girls are focusing on the two major grading tournaments of the season, the Auckland Championships and the Residential Championships, in December. These tournaments will determine selection for the ASB Tennis Classic and tournaments at Wellington and Blenheim - and the team to compete in the Fed Cup in April.

Nola said: "Performing under the pressure is what a lot my girls find hard. I want them to be comfortable and really be at their best, even when the heat goes on."

New Zealand Tennis, she believes, is on the right track to produce players of international standard in a couple of years' time, but the biggest challenge she has as coach is getting the girls to focus solely on their tennis.

"New Zealand is very interesting. There are so many options for young people and they don't settle on one thing. They need to realise what their dream is and commit themselves fully to it. They have all the ability, but they need to make tennis their life not their hobby."