"5 minutes after winning Roland Garros in 2013 after trying for 11 years, Serena Williams said 'Okay, now we have to win Wimbledon'" - Patrick Mouratoglou
In a recent interview with Joe Pompliano, Serena Williams' coach Patrick Mouratglou spoke on a range of topics, including the mindset of some of the players he has worked with over the course of his career.
Mouratoglou used an anecdote from when he first started working with the 23-time Grand Slam winner full-time to describe the champion's mentality.
Serena Williams is the greatest female tennis player of all time, and when you hear stories like this from her coach @pmouratoglou, it's easy to see why.
The best are never satisfied. https://t.co/fvRAVZWYfl
The Frenchman recalled that Williams' main goal at the start of the 2013 season was to win Roland Garros, a title she had not won in 11 years. After achieving the feat, Mouratoglou recalled Williams turning to him "literally five minutes" after the trophy presentation ceremony, saying: "Now we have to win Wimbledon."
Describing it as an "incredible" moment, Moratoglou said it proved to him that Williams, despite having achieved a long-standing goal, had the hunger for more.
"I have this story with Serena was incredible," Mouratolglou said. "We started in 2012 and she was in trouble at that time, and then she starts to win, she wins Wimbledon, US Open and then the Masters at the end of the year. And then she tells me, she struggles to win Roland Garros, and she would love to make a plan. We win Roland Garros the next year. She's expecting to win it for 11 years without success. She won in 2002 and then not once until 2013."
"She was right there was in 2013, after 11 years, trying to win it right?" he conitnued. "After the trophy ceremony, she's just stretching and I'm with her. And then she turns to me after literally five minutes after and she says to me, okay. Now we have to win Wimbeldon. I know she already forgot about Roland Garros, the titles she's chasing for 11 years, but this is really an example of the mindset of the champions."
"The level of expectation for themselves and for the team is so much higher for champions" - Serena Williams' coach
Further elaborating on the champion's mindset, Mouratoglou said these players processed things differently and had higher expectations of themselves and the people around them.
The Frenchman added that irrespective of the degree of success they achieve, champion players always strive for more.
"I've been lucky to work with a lot of great players and champions," Mouratoglou said. "And I'm friends also with great champions, and I can tell clearly that they don't process the same way as other people at all. They have a different way to process."
"One of the things that this very different is that they're never satisfied with what they have," he continued. "They have this constant will to get more and the level of expectation for themselves and for the team is so much higher."