
via Imago
Serena Williams with coach Patrick Mouratoglou

via Imago
Serena Williams with coach Patrick Mouratoglou
With so many grand slams and other important tournaments around tennis, players usually don’t take the Olympic Games as seriously when it comes to tennis. But for other sports, the story is totally different. Olympic Games which take place every four years are considered to be a global level tournament that happens for almost all sports.
Talking about the same, Serena Williams’ former coach shared why the Olympics are not as relevant in the world of tennis as they are in the world of other sports. He delved into what needs to change if we want tennis players to value the Olympics and consider it a milestone like other major tournaments.
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Serena Williams’ former coach talks about tennis players not considering the Olympics important
Patrick Mouratoglou has worked with Serena for years. He was on her team for around 10 years and during those 10 years, Serena won 4 Olympic medals (one in Singles & three in Doubles). Despite Serena’s tremendous success at the quadrennial event, Patrick still feels the Grand Slams should have the upper hand.
He recently talked on his social media about how the Olympics does not stand in the line of importance for tennis players as much as grand slams and other tournaments do. He said, “A lot of tennis players don’t feel that it is such an important event for tennis. Initially, tennis was at the Olympics and then it got out and was reintroduced. As a consequence, there is no history between tennis and the Olympics.”
“A grand slam is 100 times more important for a tennis player than the Olympic games. For most players, winning one grand slam would be the biggest achievement.”, he added.
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He further went on to explain that since in other sports, there is a connection between the sport and the Olympics, players value it. So there needs to be a connection between tennis and the Olympics as well to re-establish the importance of the games.
After this was posted, a lot of tennis enthusiasts also gave their views about this topic in the comment section. Let’s take a look at that, shall we?
Tennis fans speak their mind about tennis in Olympic games
One of the top comments on the post was, “I don’t think the Olympics can ever top a Grand Slam. Waiting for 4 years for a winner is simply way too long and unnecessary for tennis.”
This can be one of the reasons why players don’t prefer the Olympics so much. It would take a long time for them to be recognized if it were on the Olympics solely.
The next comment said, “I think it depends on nationality. For some, bringing an Olympic medal to their own country represents a big emotional achievement and gratitude to their hometown fans.”

via Reuters
2016 Rio Olympics – Tennis – Victory Ceremony – Men’s Doubles Victory Ceremony – Olympic Tennis Centre – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 12/08/2016. Rafael Nadal (ESP) of Spain and Marc Lopez (ESP) of Spain pose with their gold medals. REUTERS/Toby Melville FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
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This is also true as some of the countries value an Olympic medal a lot. And for the players of that country, bringing in a medal for the nation might mean more than winning a grand slam for themselves.
Another comment was, “Grand Slams are and will always be a priority!”
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Surprisingly most tennis fans also agree with the coach and think that grand slams top everything when it comes to tennis. What is your call on this?
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