Serena Williams is easily one of the most popular and adorable athletes of modern times. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has been synonymous with power, skills, and sheer domination on the court. She is just one Major away from equalling Margaret Court’s all-time record of winning 24 Major titles. Serena is certainly one of the most decorated active players in tennis.

But, her path to greatness wasn’t easy and she had to overcome a lot of hardships en route. At The Joe Pomp Show podcast, Williams’ long-time coach Patrick Mouratoglou talks about how he pushed her to achieve more.

DIVE DEEPER: “She already forgot about Roland Garros” – Coach Patrick Mouratoglou shares intriguing detail of Serena Williams’ burning desire to succeed

Mouratoglou talks about his partnership with Serena Williams

Right off the bat, Mouratoglou gives the disclaimer that he did not make the player Serena was. In fact, when they started their partnership in 2012, Serena was already a 13 time Major Champion.

“Actually, she almost thought she was done when we started and the good thing is she ended up still playing now and she’s 40 years old. So I felt my mission was to make sure that she would use fully her potential which I believe is the mission of us as coaches,” he said.

Mouratoglou elaborated on how he was incredibly excited to work with Serena Williams as she was one of the players he admired a lot. He thus began figuring out a way for her to maximize her potential, aiming to improve her success rate.

“I think you were an underachiever and I was saying that to someone with 13 grand slams, but I meant it,” he told Williams.

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“I thought there were so many things that she could do better. And from that day, I thought okay, this is the plan. This is how I see what you’ve done so far, with incredible success, but in Grand Slams. But I think you can improve so much in so many things,” he also adds in the podcast with Joe Pompliano.

Serena fans are highly anticipating her comeback

Of late, Serena has been struggling with injuries. She has been missing in action since last year’s Wimbledon. The 23-time Major champion had to retire mid-match owing to an ankle injury in her tournament opener at the Championships.  Nonetheless, she has begun light training and her fans just can’t wait to see her back on courts!