USA TODAY International Edition
The man behind Serena
How their complex relationship works
It started as a typical pro circuit acquaintance: casual greetings, chats by the practice courts or conversations at tournaments.
In crisis, it became a partnership, and much more.
Fifteen months after Patrick Mouratoglou lent a hand to Serena Williams — who was reeling from her first opening- round loss in a major tournament — he has become the catalyst behind her return to the top of women’s tennis.
Part guru, part promoter, presumed paramour and unquenchable tennis junkie, the 43- year- old Frenchman has gradually become part of the tight- knit inner circle of the Williams team — and, by most accounts, her heart as well.
“We have this great communication,” Williams, 31, told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s definitely a two- way street. I think coaches sometimes think it’s always their way. And it’s like, ‘ You do this because I say it.’ Our dynamic is not like that at all. I think that’s what makes him so good. He’s open to me, and I’m open to him. It creates something special.”
Since they teamed up after last year’s French Open, Williams has put together the most complete winning stretch of her career.
She captured Wimbledon, Olympic, U. S. Open and French Open titles and has compiled a 95- 5 match record, the best of any stretch during her 17- year career.
This period, which includes a personal- high 34- match winning streak in the spring, compares favorably with her dominant 12 months of 2002- 03, when the American won four consecutive majors ( but fewer matches and titles), the so- called Serena Slam.
As top- ranked Williams looks to successfully defend her U. S. Open crown and notch a 17th Grand Slam title, no figure is more important than Mouratoglou. She takes on Carla Suarez Navarro, the No. 18 seed from Spain, in today’s quarterfinals.
Mouratoglou sat down with USA TODAY Sports to discuss what he called Williams’ very complex personality and their evolving relationship, which he likened to becoming conversant in another tongue.
“If you just stick to what she says, you’d be wrong most of the time,” he said. “You have to understand what’s behind all of the time. You have to anticipate.”
He added, “You have to learn another language.”
UNVARNISHED OPINION When Williams crashed out in the first round in last year’s French Open to 111th- ranked Virginie Razzano, she needed a place to practice and reached out to Mouratoglou. Williams owned an apartment in Paris, and soon she was heading out to train with Mouratoglou daily.
According to Mouratoglou, she asked for his unvarnished opinion of the Razzano match, which Williams had several chances to close out before losing in three sets.
He told her she appeared emotionally uptight and often off- balance in her movements.
“I didn’t know why she was like that, but I was shocked,” he said of the 16- time major champion.
The relationship quickly blossomed.
Mouratoglou took on an informal role and accompanied Williams to Wimbledon, which she won for the fifth time. Her success continued through the summer with wins in the London Olympics and the U. S. Open.
There is little doubt Williams has become a more complete player.
She remains the best server in the women’s game but has improved statistically in nearly every return metric this year, from break points converted to points won returning first serve.
That was clear in her emphatic 6- 4, 6- 1 fourth- round defeat of No. 15 seed Sloane Stephens on Sunday. Her court coverage and defensive play wore down the 20- year- old American as much as her vaunted power.
“She is mutating,” Mouratoglou says. “If you look at how she was playing when she was 20 and now, it’s a completely different player.”
‘ YOU HAVE TO BREAK THE WALLS’ Working with Williams has meant learning to read her moods. Just as important is integrating with her long- standing entourage.
Williams has very rarely sought coaching help outside her family, though there were short stints with Nick Bollettieri. Her hitting partner since 2007, Sascha Bajin, also plays that role.
“You have to break the walls to get in,” Williams said.
“I just think in general we are kind of close, so it’s never easy for the new person,” she added. “Me, I’m always like, ‘ C’mon!’ It’s everyone else that is so protective.”
Isha Price, Williams’ half- sister and frequent travel companion, says the process is ongoing.
“When you introduce a new member or something different, it’s a situation where you are still looking for
Coach Patrick Mouratoglou, on Serena Williams
that rhythm and how that person will fit into the mix,” she said.
Though Mouratoglou is fluent in English, there have been cultural barriers and benefits.
He has helped Williams with her emerging French, which she showed off in on- court interviews during the French Open. She has taught him the joys of eating fast food in a car. Mostly they laugh off any awkwardness.
“American and French culture are really, really different, but in a way it’s funny,” says Mouratoglou, who admires what he calls the USA’s winning culture.
After seeming tentative to partake in the postmatch festivities at Wimbledon last year in his first tournament as an informal adviser, Mouratoglou shared hugs and celebrated openly with Williams’ family and entourage after her victory in Paris in June.
On the issue of the growing dimensions of their relationship, both have been coy, evasive or silent.
Neither would comment to USA TODAY Sports about it. But paparazzi have caught the couple in various cozy poses over the past year.
Mouratoglou has three children ages 10, 12 and 19. He is separated from his wife but is not yet divorced.
“It’s on the way,” he said.
NOT EVERYONE IS A FAN Several successful players have passed through Mouratoglou’s academy, among them Grigor Dimitrov, Jeremy Chardy, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Aravane Rezai. Martina Hingis recently helped coach there. He has detractors, too. In January, former top- 10 player Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus scoffed at the idea Mouratoglou contributed much to a player who had 14 Grand Slam titles when they started working together.
“I don’t think it changed too much in her game,” said Baghdatis, who spent his teenage years at Mouratoglou’s academy and was Mouratoglou’s breakout student before severing ties. “I think she’s a great player, and he’s lucky to be there.”
Baghdatis, who lost in the third round of the U. S. Open on Sunday, didn’t have a lot to say about his time with Mouratoglou: “I tried to work with him, and it didn’t work out. I don’t like the way he worked. I don’t really want to talk about it.”
Mouratoglou does not shy away from self- promotion.
“I think I had a lot of impact on every player,” he said. “Maybe it sounds cocky, but if I don’t feel I have an im- pact or a big impact, I wouldn’t be able to be excited about my work every day.”
Players who have worked with Mouratoglou describe him as an astute, dedicated coach who is in love with tennis.
“He puts tennis as a priority before everything,” said Rezai, a former top- 15 player from France.
WILLIAMS VALUES COMMITMENT Mouratoglou says he tailors his style based on what players need, whether it’s strategy, fitness or mental toughness. He likens himself to a medical doctor who is both generalist and specialist.
He is proud of his association with Williams, which he compared to coaching Real Madrid or Manchester United in soccer because it means he is at the top of his profession.
Williams said they found an immediate coaching connection because Mouratoglou thinks like her father, Richard, who taught her the game.
“That’s the only reason I was able to work with him — because of that mind frame,” she said. “We have the same forward way of thinking.”
Mouratoglou says Williams, despite her accomplishments, can be stubborn but is open to ideas and always willing to improve. She values commitment. “He seemed to be 100% with whoever he was with,” Williams said. “If I want to work with someone, I want that kind of loyalty.”
Mouratoglou sounded philosophical when asked about the road ahead. He plans to continue coaching others when Williams hangs up her rackets or if they part ways earlier.
“You know, she takes what she wants from me, and she probably takes also from other people like her father, her mother, all those things,” Mouratoglou said.
“So it’s teamwork. What is important is at the end of the day she’s winning and she’s successful. That’s what we all want.”
“If you look at how she was playing when she was 20 and now, it’s a completely different player.”