Serena Williams’ coach on disputes between them: “I said it was not about her appearance”
Patrick Mouratoglou, who led the legendary American to many successes: “She was upset about my comments on her weight, but it was only about tennis”
Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, recalled “some disputes” with the legendary tennis player regarding her weight.
Williams won 10 out of her 23 Grand Slam titles while hiring Mouratoglou’s services.
Mouratoglou saying in The Guardian about Williams who revealed last month that she lost 14 kg using a weight-loss medication did not like when he told her that her weight affected her movement on the court.
On the “Today” show, she mentioned that he keep on telling her that she need to lose weight during matches.
“It was after pregnancy not immediately after I know such things take time.
I told her: ‘Listen, this is not a comment about how you look. That’s not my point.'”
The coach continued: “Tennis is a sport where you cannot carry extra weight.
First, the pressure on joints is so high that the risk of injury increases.
Second, it is a sport where you constantly change direction at high speed.
Even one extra kilogram is significant.
When you run full speed in one direction with extra weight and then need to stop and turn back, the time you lose is critical.
Look at the best players in the world Sinner Djokovic or Alcaraz .
The way that their body need to move.
Her weight affected her movement.”
Williams revealed she began using weight loss medication because she had difficulty maintaining a “healthy” weight after the births of her daughters, Olympia in 2017 and Adira in 2023. Over the past eight months, she is said to have lost 14 kilograms.
Serena was older and her body didnt return to be as before so the risk of injury is greater,” Mouratoglou said.
“We had some disputes about it.
I remember she did not like it when I said it because she thought I judge her.
And i always told her that I do not care about her appearance.
That is not my role, it is your tennis.
If you want to keep being on top and making history, we must be efficient in every single level including this one, which I thought was the central element.”
When asked, “Now that she has lost all this weight, do you think to yourself, just if she did this years ago?” Mouratoglou said: “I am not one to look back and regret.
But yes, if she had been in this physical condition, the results would have been better.”