During the 2011–2012 season, Serena Williams endured one of the toughest stretches of her career. After a freak foot injury in 2010 sidelined her for months, she returned only to face a shocking first-round exit at the 2012 French Open. Looking for a fresh start, Serena approached Patrick Mouratoglou, a then-little-known coach, at his Paris academy. While she later praised their open communication, Mouratoglou has now revealed that their early working relationship was anything but smooth.
Speaking on the Business of Sport podcast, the Frenchman described how difficult those first days were. He admitted he often questioned the risk of taking the job, considering Serena had already won 13 Grand Slam titles and held the No. 1 ranking. “Every coach would dream of being in that position,” he said. “But at the start, both Serena and her father tested me constantly.”
Mouratoglou explained that Serena and Richard Williams challenged him to see whether he could stand his ground. “If I let them step on me, I wouldn’t be respected,” he recalled. One of the most defining moments came during their very first practice together at Wimbledon, where he directly confronted Serena—a move that surprised many around him.
Things escalated further when Richard Williams publicly called him out after a match. “He was shouting at me in front of everyone,” Mouratoglou recounted. “I told him, if you don’t respect me, I won’t respect you either. And when he blamed me for Serena playing badly, I reminded him that I had been coaching her for just one week, while he had been coaching her for 30 years.” According to Mouratoglou, Richard had no response, but that confrontation eventually built a foundation of mutual respect.
Looking back, he now sees those clashes as necessary. “They were testing my character without me realizing it,” he said. Those early battles ultimately forged a strong bond that led to one of the most successful coaching partnerships in tennis.
Beyond their professional clashes, Mouratoglou also touched on Serena’s struggles with weight and fitness after pregnancy. He revealed how delicate those conversations were, but stressed the importance of staying in peak shape. “It’s not about looks,” he explained. “Tennis is a sport where even one extra kilo matters—you’re constantly changing direction, and that weight slows you down while putting more strain on the joints.”
Despite the rocky beginnings, Mouratoglou believes those tests shaped the dominant Serena era that followed, turning challenges into a partnership that defined modern women’s tennis.
