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“It’s Great For Tennis” – Patrick Mouratoglou on Serena Williams’ Meltdowns During US Open 2018 Finals

Published 06/08/2020, 5:30 PM EDT

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Exactly nine years after the infamous US Open episode, wherein Serena Williams abused a lineswoman over a foot-fault, the tennis champion ignited another meltdown in 2018.

The Japanese tennis phenom  Naomi Osaka was making her Major breakthrough in New York, but it turned out to be a bitter one due to meltdowns od Serena. The match was followed by a series of rants between Williams and the chair umpire Carlos Ramos.

And Serena’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou believes tennis needs some sort of drama and the tirade-encounter was good for the sport. That is necessary for tennis to grow.

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“Every morning we have a meeting of everyone involved. I came into the room and they were all there. There was silence because everyone was feeling uncomfortable. I stood up and I said ‘listen, guys, yesterday was the worst day ever for Team Serena because she lost and because of what happened,” Mouratoglou told Daily Mail.

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“But it was the best day for tennis because tennis is everywhere, it’s great for tennis. So it depends on how you look at it’. People watch sports like they watch a movie, they want to feel emotion,” he added.

That day, Serena portrayed all her emotions on the court during that Grand Slam final as she badly wanted to win her 24th Slam. But, the match turned out more like a dramatic movie.

“Watching tennis today is like watching a movie full of very nice people doing nothing wrong. We lack a bit of authenticity.”

“Carlos Ramos did a terrible job” – Serena Williams’ coach

The International Tennis Federation stated that Ramos was doing his job, and they did find any faults in his decision. However, Mouratoglou disagrees with it.

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“Of course it is not very comfortable when you are in the eye of the storm but I am not scared, I am very relaxed. I didn’t do anything wrong, I just did what all coaches do all year long. I think he (Ramos) did a terrible job, but we all make mistakes. Coaches coach (from the stands), we all know that.”

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During that American Major finals, now World Number eight Serena Williams  was handed a series of code violations from Ramos for receiving coaching signals from her box, smashing her racquet, and calling the umpire ‘thief.’

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For all her meltdowns she was handed US $17,000 fine. And since then Ramos is banned from officiating Serena’s professional matches.

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Written by:

Mahalakshmi Murali

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
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