The Romanian sensation Simona Halep feels her new coach Patrick Mouratoglou has a ‘strong personality and is pretty hard as a coach’. The former World No. 1 who has been switching coaches lately, on April 7 announced Patrick Mouratoglou as her new full-time coach.

Patrick Mouratoglou is commonly known as the former coach of tennis legend Serena Williams. Working with Serena since 2012, Patrick guided Serena towards 10 Grand Slam titles, and her maiden women’s singles Olympic gold. Under his eye, Serena also reclaimed the top spot in the WTA rankings.

With the French Open just six weeks away, the two have already hit the court, training for the title in Paris. Currently, training at the clay courts of the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, Halep recently gave her first words on Mouratoglou.

Simona Halep recalls the old times with Serena

Turning pro in 2006, Simona Halep has often been heard calling Serena Williams her greatest competitor. Over the years, the two have played a total of 12 times in their career, with Serena leading the race 10-2. Coincidentally, the two have 11 of their 12 matches after 2012 (i.e. after Patrick started working with Serena).

Recalling the outstanding heights achieved with Serena in the past 10 years, Simona said, “Patrick made Serena better than she was before.” “It has put him in the top tier of coaches,” she further added.

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Revealing further, Simona made a surprising revelation about her and Patrick. Even though she and Serena have played 12 times in their careers, the Romanian player asserted that she didn’t know Patrick before this year. “I didn’t really know him before this year.” “We never talked and I didn’t have a feeling of how he is,” she said.

Halep on her relationship with Patrick Mouratoglou

In the daily walk of life, a number of people pass by an individual. Even though the individual doesn’t know that entity in person, one thing that he can make out by the entity’s work is his personality. A similar situation was experienced by Halep. As mentioned earlier, she didn’t know Patrick before. However, seeing Patrick’s contribution to Serena’s career, Simona Halep took no time in drawing an idea of his personality.

Opening up on why she chose Mouratoglou as her coach, Halep said, “I saw that he has a strong personality. He’s pretty hard as a coach. So, I thought he’s a good match for me and that’s why I’m here.”

The most important area of a coach-student relationship is often the openness in their relationship. It is often said that without having a comfort level, even the best of the coaches cannot do wonders. Going further, Halep opened up about the relationship she shares with Patrick since the time they have started working together.

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Going all praise for the French coach, Hale asserted that the two already know each other well. “He’s easy to talk to. We know each other pretty well already, which is a big step for me because I’m not very open to everybody, I’m a very introverted person. So, he made me open and I think this is a good thing for our relationship on court.”

How has the understanding between the two developed over time?

Having an understanding is often the key to a successful relationship. The 2-time Grand Slam champion feels no different. Commenting on the current stage of understanding in their relationship, Halep said, “His simplicity is super heavy, super strong. He has a few words that he tells you and you understand perfectly what you have to do.”

Halep and Mouratoglou have kicked off their association at the start of the clay-court season. With a number of warm-up tournaments lined up before the final showdown in Paris, Halep is surely expecting a repeat of the 2018 season, where she won the Roland Garros.

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