Mouratoglou Reveals His Secret Of Helping Williams

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 22nd October 2013

Mouratoglou Reveals His Secret Of Helping Williams

epa03787731 US tennis player Serena Williams (R) in action as her coach Patrick Mouratoglou (L) looks on during a training session prior to her participation in the Swedish Open tennis tournament in Bastad, Sweden, 14 July 2013. EPA/PETER WIDING SWEDEN OUT |

Patrick Mouratoglou has finally revealed the basis of his coaching relationship with world no.1 Serena Williams and how he transformed her into a resilient performer who does not fall prey to the number of injuries and illnesses that once restricted her tennis.

The 43-year-old Frenchman and Williams have reportedly allowed their relationship to evolve into something many believe is now romance but at first Mouratoglou just wanted to help her realize her full potential on the tennis court.

Williams first approached Mouratoglou 18 months ago with her former boyfriend and his former charge Grigor Dimitrov the conduit. She had just lost in the French Open’s first round and was seeking a new approach to her game.

Mouratoglou recalled: “I started to tell her the things she should work on and she said: ‘OK, let’s do it.’ I always work with a physiotherapist and I wanted Serena to see him because it is important that we know about her body and he found some interesting things.

“I said: ‘We can do this job because you have weaknesses that explain most of the injuries during your career and we can limit the risk of more injury.’”

Mouratoglou revealed that sports science took a major part in the Williams set up for the first time in her career. “We also made the blood tests which showed some things she was lacking,” he said.

“I went to Wimbledon with Grigor and she called me the day before she was coming over, we met and she said that for the first time of her career she wanted to have a second eye on her tennis and: ‘I would like to try with you because it is the first time I feel I have this kind of fit with someone. Is it possible?’

“It was important to do everything to avoid injuries because at her age an injury could be the end and I told her if we do the work, it won’t take too much time but we have to do it every day and we can divide the chances of injury by ten. Of course, 100% guarantees don’t exist but we can really limit the chances of getting an injury to the minimum.”

And Mouratoglou revealed Dimitrov played a generous part in allowing his former coach to spend a lot of time with Williams. He said: “I needed to speak to Grigor because I had a project with him and I needed him to say it was OK and then share me between the two, and if he says ‘No’ I won’t do it because I had a commitment. But he said: ‘For sure, you have to do this.’ ”

Now in 109 matches together as player and coach, Serena has only lost five times and 2013 has been her most dominant year with ten titles and 73-4 winning record.

Mouratoglou said: “Serena is different, of course, she is experienced, her eyes are open to the world, she is one of the biggest champions ever and knows so much about herself, how to succeed.

“She is the most important woman athlete of all. Everything is big with her. The pressure is higher because if you win or lose with her it is not the same impact as anybody else. Everyone’s eyes are on you. We have a good relationship that goes beyond tennis because it’s between two people who trust each other.”

Topics: 10sballs, French Open, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Wimbledon