Is 'love' the secret behind Serena's renewed success?
Serena Williams and Patrick Mouratoglou have found love and success
A little more than a year ago, Serena Williams was in the throes of self doubt, grappling with the ebb and tide of her motivational juices. The imposing American suffered an uncharacteristic three-set defeat at the hands of Virginie Razzano in the first round of the French Open. But fortunately, it was an exit that helped the younger Williams discover the path to glorious redemption. Grigor Dimitrov, her boyfriend around the time, had introduced her to a certain Patrick Mouratoglou whose tennis academy is only a 30 minute drive from Paris. Disappointed with her showing at Roland Garros, Serena checked into the academy looking to knock a few balls and seek a few answers.
The short drive to the academy was to prove therapeutic, and not merely to her tennis. It was a meeting that sparked a fire that would alter the course of a woman’s career and the man’s life. At 31, it appeared that Serena might be ready to fade into the winter of her tennis career and enjoy the pursuit of her many eclectic interests outside the WTA circus.
Instead, Mouratoglou awakened the dormant spirit inside her soul to help script a story of revivalism that was hard to predict even for God. The thirteen-time Grand Slam champion stoked her energies in the fire of Mouratoglu’s mentorship to produce instant results. Even as their affection for one another started to blossom into love, Serena started to prosper on court like it was 2002 all over again.
Just weeks after her earliest exit from a Grand Slam tournament, Serena was marching through SW19 with renewed vigour and energy. The new wind carried the American to spectacular successes at Wimbledon, two gold medals at the Olympics and the US Open title, before finishing it off in style with a straight sets victory over Maria Sharapova at the WTA Tour Championships.
It was clear that the new bloom had plenty to do with the chemistry between Serena and Patrick, who was helping the American regain her intensity both on and off the court. Even though there hasn’t been any formal confirmation about the relationship, the two were pictured holding hands last September and rumours swirled about a growing romance.
Earlier this year, it was reported in the French press that 40-year-old Clarisse Mouratoglou had filed for divorce. There have been no comments from either side, but it seems Patrick’s relationship with Serena has contributed to the separation. Clarisse is the coach’s second wife and the couple have two children, Charlotte and Juliette.
In working together with Mouratoglou, Serena found peace within and rediscovered the hunger to do well on court. She has been able to channel the positive energy from being content to once again dominate the tour like she had at the height of her powers. But in order to do so, Serena had to work on the court to refine and retune her already impressive repertoire.
In the past few years, Serena had drifted away from tennis due to a series of personal events, bizarre injuries and a growing range of professional interests outside of tennis. While she was still very impressive when on song, she found it difficult to discover the means needed to win on days when she was off colour. She needed a plan B and in Mouratoglou, she found a man who understood a lot about making alternative plans.
In his younger days, Mouratoglou dreamt about being a top notch tennis player, but his businessman father had other ideas and stood in the way of his dreams. “This created a great frustration for me and became a motivation to become a professional tennis coach,” he told BBC Sport. “I wanted to help players achieve what I hadn’t been able to myself. And I also wanted to reach the highest possible level as a coach, the level I’d aspired to when I dreamt of being a top player.”