Despite Earning Golden Reputation, Serena Williams’ Ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou Once Received Brutal Criticism for His Rigid Methods: ‘It Was Like Being in Prison’

Former American tennis star, Serena Williams, had a great run with her ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou. The duo did well together and Serena won 10 Grand Slam titles in his tenure. However, the way they split is reflective of the chances of a rift between them. Serena, in her later playing days, was not very active and Mouratoglou left her to work full-time with Simona Halep.

While the Frenchman is among one of the best tennis coaches ever, not all of his students think so. Back in 2020, French tennis star Aravane Rezai spoke about her challenges working under Mouratoglou’s guidance.

Mouratoglou didn’t care about the mental health of tennis players

French tennis star Aravane Rezai opened up about her time with Patrick Mouratoglou. She claimed that the Frenchman exerted too much pressure on tennis players without considering their mental health. She said. “I was put under enormous pressure to win. I couldn’t unwind, I couldn’t take the phone, the credit card, anything. It was like being in prison. I would get up at six in the morning to run an hour or two, do the physical training before my training. It was too much. That is why our relationship lasted just over a year.”

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She further added, “The people around me told him that I couldn’t take it anymore, but he replied that he didn’t care. He didn’t care about my mental health.”

Mouratoglou on Serena Williams’ 2018 US Open final incident

In 2018, Serena Williams was up against Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka in the US Open final. Meanwhile, a coaching violation that ruled against Serena made her furious. She had a heated argument with the Chair Umpire and the distraction cost her the match.

While Serena maintained that she didn’t get any help from her coach, the Frenchman admitted to doing it. However, he was not sorry for what he did. Rather, he claimed to do it again in the future. The reason he gave was that almost everyone did it.

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Serena’s fallout also meant that Naomi Osaka’s first Grand Slam title became controversial. Later, the former world number 1 apologized to Osaka.