Why Taylor Fritz's Coach Makes Him Sleep 9 Hours Every Night

Michael Russell discusses Eight Sleep, and how it has influenced his coaching partnership with Taylor Fritz.

Michael Russell has partnered with Eight Sleep. | IMAGO / AAP

No athletes have a tougher time maintaining a regular sleep schedule than professional tennis players. They crisscross the globe every week, having to constantly adjust to dramatically different time zones — and then compete against other world-class athletes.

As a former professional tennis player and now coach, Michael Russell understands the importance of a good night's sleep. In fact, he makes it a top priority for Taylor Fritz. That is why the legendary coach has partnered with Eight Sleep.

Russell monitors Fritz's Eight Sleep sleep fitness scores, deep sleep duration, and REM time, and uses that data to make real decisions about what happens in training the next day. Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI spoke with Russell about Eight Sleep, Fritz, and his own playing career.

Taylor Fritz and Michael Russell at Roland-Garros. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

What made you want to partner with Eight sleep?

I think one of the most important things in professional sports, and even just life in general, is recovery. And having optimal sleep, we all feel better, and we perform better in our lives, and that was the big thing, or when I played on tour and coaching now, when athletes slept better, they played better.

The training was at a higher level, and Eight Sleep was at the forefront of sleep science. They're basically the first fitness sleep company, and they're really, really revolutionary with the products that they have, and I just thought it was just a great partnership in collaboration.

How can tennis players sleep well when crisscrossing the globe?

I think the main thing is having a consistent routine. For me, and a lot of the players and athletes that I've talked to are important to basically being trying to limit light, be in a dark room, a cooler temperature, no noise, try to be off the phone, the laptop for at least 30 minutes before going to bed, and if you can get to sleep before midnight.

All those factors are really important, except that it's difficult crisscrossing across the globe and dealing with jet lag. So the more consistent you can be with some of those key factors, the better your sleep quality can be in the deeper REM stages you can get into.

Taylor Fritz and Michael Russell in 2023. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

What advice would you give to tennis fans wanting to improve their sleep?

I just think sometimes we don't prioritize the rest and sleep enough, and I know it's difficult, and in our lives, we're busy, and busy is good. But it's just important. We always shoot for nine hours of sleep with Taylor. But just trying to get eight hours and really get that deep REM cycle state, where you can get that deeper quality sleep.

How does Taylor do when it comes to sleeping?

He's pretty good, and he can sleep on the airplanes pretty well. He can even, sometimes fall asleep in the middle of a movie. He's pretty tired, usually, from a full day of training and matches. But he's good about following his sleep routine.

What are the toughest and best parts of coaching Taylor?

So, one of the things that makes him such a good player, but also, it could be challenging, is stubbornness. A lot of times, he's very stubborn in the way he plays. He's very superstitious as well, and sometimes we have to try to break some of those molds, just because it doesn't fall within what we want to do in our schedules, logistically speaking, but that's one of the challenges, but also what makes them such a good competitor, a great player.

Michael Russell at the 2011 Australian Open. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

What similarities and differences do you see in Taylor compared to you as a player?

Definitely, the similarities would be the perfectionism part. When I played, I had the same mentality, perfectionist, which is a lot of pros, but a lot of cons with it, because you're so hard on yourself. So that's a lot of similar letters.

The difference is, of course, his game style. Obviously, he's a big guy. He plays matches with his powerful serving and crushing forehands. For me, I was more about wearing people down, by retrieving with my quick feet, and obviously, my fitness. And Taylor's fitness has gotten a lot better and has improved in the last two years, as well.

As the 2024 ATP Coach of the Year, what makes a good coach?

I think a lot of it has to do with the communication factor between the coach and the player. Every player is unique. It's really understanding what's happening in their mind, what's happening in court, being empathetic, and then being able to understand them, and continue the dialogue, and ask questions.

Rafael Nadal and Michael Russell at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. | IMAGO / HochZwei

Last question: If you could change one thing in your career, what would it be?

Sometimes I was a little too hard on myself and a little too quick to look for other excuses, whether it was rackets or balls or other extracurricular things, rather than just acknowledging it was my own fault.