PAtrick Mouratoglou was remarkably absent in the US Open of this year. Since his outbreak of Marcos Baghdatis, whom he led to the Australian Open Final in 2006, Mouratoglou has distinguished himself as a tennis guru – with pros and prospects that make the pilgrimage to his academy on the French Riviera. But it was his partnership with Serena Williams, who won 10 of her 23 Grand Slam Singles titles after In combination with the Frenchman, he helped Cement Mouratoglou as a coaching great.
Between touring customers at the moment, Mouratoglou caught up with the end of the US Open to talk about the revival of Naomi Osaka, the weight loss of Williams and what it takes to break Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s duopoly in the men’s game.
Why was the collaboration with Serena so successful? What could you take two apart that already brought her incredible tennis to the highest level ever?
Great confidence on both sides – such as, real, full to trust. We fed each other in terms of motivation. I [knew] Her perfect, how to push her, motivate, lure her out to be more competitive. We started during a difficult period. She had not won Grand Slam for two years and suffered a loss of the first round in a slam for the first time in her career [to Virginie Razzano at the 2012 French Open]. When something like that happens, even the best competitors they think a little differently start – and that hurts their quality when they compete.
Roland Garros was the most difficult tournament for her, and at that time she had only won it once, in 2002. [At the start of] 2013, after we got her back to No. 1, she told me: “I really want to win it again. Can you make a plan for me?” So we have done a number of things that may sound a bit crazy. In Madrid, our adjustment for Roland Garros, I told her: “If you want to win this tournament, you have to do it as only second portions, because I don’t want you to get points for free.” It forced her to work every point from the first to the last game, and gave her so much confidence about playing on clay [Williams posted a 28-0 clay court record that year]. Those are the types of challenges that Serena would love, because she really won a lot.
Serena has recently been on an American media blitz to promote a weight loss medicine and to have criticized for the undermining of her athletic performance, let alone the virtues of food and exercise. In one interview she said that You Hard for her are about her weight that was processed in her decision to take a medical route to weight loss. How do you remember?
Oh I remember it terribly Good. It was after pregnancy – not right after; I know these things take time. I told her: “Listen, this is not a comment about what you look like. It’s not my problem.” But tennis is a sport in which you can’t afford to be overweight. First of all, the pressure on your joints is and everything is so great that your chances are much higher. The second is that it is a sport in which you always change direction and at a lot of speed. Even one kilo overweight is a lot. When you go in one direction at full speed with one kilo extra and then have to stop and come back, the time you lose is really important. Take a look at the best players in the world – Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic. Think of their movement. The weight influenced her movement.
In the case of Serena she was older – so the body will of course not jump back the same as before, and the risk of injury is even greater. We had a few fights about it. I remember that she didn’t like it when I said that because she thought I was judging her. But I kept telling her, I don’t care about your look. It is not my job. My job is your tennis. If you want to come back to the top and want to write history, then we must be very efficient at every level – including this one, which was the most important element for me.
So now that they have lost all this weight, are you like, well, I wish she had done this five, six years ago?
I am not the type of man who looks back and regrets. But yes, if they had been physically in this position, the results would have been better.
Sinner and Alcaraz look like they are at a different level than the rest of the men’s tour. If you were to coach a man in the layer of them, how would you let them believe that they could actually beat Alcaraz or Sinner in a slam final?
It’s funny that you say that. When Rafa and Roger were at the top of the game, it was exactly the same situation – the [next] Eight players all say that it is impossible to win a Grand Slam with those two boys. If you talk about the generation of French players who were top 10-gaël monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet meaning them all. But then a young Novak Djokovic came in and said, “I’m going to beat those guys and not be 1.” And everyone laughed and said, “Who is this stubborn man?” But he finally did it and became the greatest of all time.
So yes, Alcaraz and Sinner are certainly on another planet at the moment. But your question is very logical because the man who will be in the mix with these two, if there is one, is the only man who will believe it is possible. Actually, when I interview young players, that’s what I am trying to find out. If you listen to them, they all say, “I don’t want to be 1 in the world.” But my first question is always: what is your plan? I need to know: how much do you believe?
I remember that I did my interview with Coco Gauff when she first came to my academy at the age of 10 and my office left thinking that her drive and self-confidence was incredible to someone who was so young. And you see where she is now.
Speaking of talented players, the tennis world had high expectations of your coaching partner with Naomi Osaka. Why did it end after 10 months?
The results were not good enough, which was completely logical. I think we have done many good things, but, at least from a coaching position, the only thing you don’t control can ruin the whole thing. I think she had improved so much, I saw it every day. And her way of thinking was great. But she did not perform well enough during the competitions, so that was one piece that ruined the whole thing.
Looking back I didn’t do well enough, otherwise the results would have been there. I also think having me as a coach was a bit tough for her, with regard to what I did with Serena for years. She actually called it a few times, even publicly – and I found no way to remove that pressure. I think they might not perform. As soon as I was not aware, she probably felt lighter. By not having that pressure, she could express her tennis more freely. But there are no hard feelings. She is a great competitor.
She may have fallen short of winning a third US open, but she has a lot to be proud of because she did as far as she did. What did you make from her tournament and prospects in the future?
First of all you have to talk about what Naomi did in the last two tournaments. She was also in the final in Montreal, and that was a very narrow game that could have gone her way. I think she plays at an extremely high level again and the performance she showed in the latter two tournaments are quite clear. So that’s great news. I am not surprised at all because I know how much effort she has made. When we separated, I told her agent that she was 100% ready – what I felt because her practical level was consistent and extremely high. She needed these breakthroughs, which she had fairly quickly, to probably realize that she could play with the best and she could beat. It is great to have Naomi back in the mix. She is one of the most iconic players of the past five years.
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