Not allowing a coach to speak to the player is disrespectful - Mouratoglou

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In an interview to Le Figaro, Serena Williams' coach Patrick Mouratoglou blasted the on-court coaching rule. In the last year's US Open final the Frenchman gave suggestions to Serena, who then received a game penalty by the umpire Carlos Ramos. "Not allowing a coach to speak to his player is very bad and in some ways, disrespectful. They are not allowing us to work. The coach is the key in the players' trajectory. What Stan Wawrinka's career would have been if he did not meet Magnus Norman? What Novak Djokovic's 2018 season would have been if he did not find Marian Vajda? I am not doing this job to stay on the 15th rankings place. I do it to make her become the no. 1. When a player reaches (his/her) own limits, that's what makes me stop. Serena is the only one I never lived this experience with because she wants to be the best and wants to improve. I always thought that one day I would coach her."

Mouratoglou added: "I built my tennis academy for 26 years to make younger players get to their highest level, but not as a coach. After Bob Brett's exit, I thought it would be bothering that my academy was named after me although I was not a coach. So I had to become (a coach)."

Mouratoglou commented on how the American player deals with losses. "Motherhood did not change anything. For her reaching the final and losing is as satisfying as losing in the first round. A month before she gave birth, she asked me if I found her a hitting partner for September, when she gave birth." Mouratoglou wanted to become a tennis champion but his father, who owned an energy company, did not want him to. "It's very difficult when people do not believe you. That's the story of my life. This enormous satisfaction became a strength for what I then achieved. I live emotions through my players' success."

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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2IkBsQf

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