"You see a lot of women running on drop shots, not knowing what to do" - Serena Williams' ex-coach on difference between men's and women's tennis
Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently talked about the differences between women's and men's tennis.
Mouratoglou frequently posts analytical videos on his social media platforms. On Monday (July 31), the Frenchman posted a video on the relative adaptability of male and female players, especially to grasscourts.
Patrick Mouratoglou believes that men's and women's tennis are very different because men "play" more, so they have better hands and adapt better, whereas women repeat what they are taught.
"I think men's tennis and women's tennis are very different in many things and one of the things men play more whereas women learn to play, it's completely different," he said.
"They repeat things that they are taught where guys play a lot. They work a lot more on adaptation so they have better hands and they adapt better to all kind of situations where women are repeating things," he added.
Mouratoglou then claimed that a lot of female players are not sure how to deal with drop shots, and that they 'panic' when pushed out of their comfort zone.
"You see a lot of women running on drop shots, not knowing what to do with the ball," he said. "A lot of players and even very very good players, get them out of their comfort zone, they panic very fast, they don't know what to do."
"So they adapt with much more difficulties than men. That's why the change that represents grass, which is a big change compared to what they have all year long," he continued.
Mouratoglou believes that most players, including some of the best, struggle to adjust to grass. But he added that that is not the case with Ons Jabeur; the Frenchman called Jabeur a complete player with "great hands" who can easily adapt to the surface.
"Most of the players, they don't adapt well to grass, most of them and that's why Ons (Jabeur) adapts well. She has great hands. She is a player like literally a player compared to many other great players, so she can adapt very easily," Mouratoglou said.
Why did Serena Williams and Patrick Mouratoglou split?
Patrick Mouratoglou began coaching Serena Williams in 2012, and she won 10 Grand Slam singles titles along with an Olympic singles gold medal under his guidance. They split in 2022, and the Frenchman is now coaching former World No.1 Simona Halep.
Mouratoglou revealed during a sports festival at Cluj Polyvalent that Serena Williams was unsure about her plans for the 2022 season. He told her that he would consider himself "free" if the 23-time Grand Slam Champion did not show up to training the following Monday.
"I wanted to be fair to her [Serena Williams] and not be disappointed at the end of my career," Mouratoglou was quoted as saying by Gazeta Sporturilor. "I went to ask her what she was going to do. It wasn't very clear to her."
"I asked her if she wanted to go to Roland Garros. She told me he didn't know. It was six weeks before the tour. I told her I was waiting for her on Monday for training and if she didn't come I would consider myself free," he added.
When asked how he felt after Serena Williams took a break, Patrick Mouratoglou said:
"After Serena decided to take a break, I confessed to my loved ones that I feel like I'm done with coaching. I knew that one of my strengths was that I had a lot of enthusiasm for my work. Without this enthusiasm I can't be a good coach. I felt like I had lost it."