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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2019

Patrick Mouratoglou

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Is this the best you have seen Serena since she's come back from having the baby?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: I think generally speaking the tournament, yes. I think she's fitter than she was last year, because even though she made really a lot of efforts to come back in shape last year, I don't think she had enough time. Having a baby is a big thing. So for a top-level athlete to come back and be 100% fit after having a baby any time, I think there was not enough time.

So I think now she's ready physically. I think emotionally too because it's a big change in anyone's life to have a baby and you need to get used to a new life, and it took a bit of time.

But I feel now she's back to being Serena on both the physical and emotional side. So I think her level is good. I think she needed a big fight, and it happened today and I think it's a great thing. Especially when it ends like that.

Q. She spoke to us about how she needed to bring it in these big matches. What do you think she brought in the 2-3 and 3-All game in the third set?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: She was being herself. I think that's her trademark, to be able to play those moments better than the opponent. I think one of her main qualities is to be a top competitor. And being a top competitor means turning, means being able to turn the matches around to feel the big moments during a match, and on those moments, raise their level either with quality of the shots or tactically to win those points and turn the match in their favor.

I think that's what she did at 3-All. It was a big fight at 3-All, because I think it was, she was not in her -- I think in that moment Simona was playing a bit better than her, and the danger was real. She knew she should not get broken at that time, and she found a way. And then the match changed.

Q. It's now been many years your working with this incredible champion and incredible woman, a cultural icon, as well. Can you share what you have really learned from her as an athlete and also as a person.
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: It's going to be difficult to summarize it in a few words. She just -- I mean, when you start this job, you have an idea of what a champion is in terms of mindset, and she just come from that 100%. She come from that, I mean, champions, I'm talking about her, but she doesn't think like the other players.

I have worked with a lot of players in my life, I have a tennis academy, as you know. I have worked with thousands of players, from young players to pros to juniors to top juniors to top pros, and there is only one Serena in terms of mindset. And that explains why there is only one Serena with this career that is completely -- those two things are completely sync.

You become who you are, how you think, and a champion -- I mean, there are a few things that champions do or think that are different than other people. I always tell this story. You know -- Roland Garros has always been a difficult tournament for her in the past, and when we started 2012 she just lost in the first round. And after she started to win Grand Slams again, she won Wimbledon, US Open, Olympic gold, et cetera, she told me she was struggling to win Roland Garros. Last time she won it I think was in 2002 and we were in 2013 when she started to talk to me about that.

We made a plan, and she worked incredibly hard to win this one, and she won it in 2013. So 11 years after. After the trophy ceremony, she went to stretch, and she told me, Come with me, I'm stretching. After two minutes she turned to me and said, Now we have to win Wimbledon. She already forgot it. She was chasing something for 11 years, not two minutes, ten minutes after she was already focusing on the next goal. That's different. There are guys who win one tournament and they celebrate for 15 years (laughter).

Q. That's a great story. Do you believe that she'll win this tournament?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: Of course I believe she will win. If I don't believe she will win I should coach somebody else.

First of all, I always think she can win, and she will win. I think I should be in that state of mind. Because she's Serena. And because my goal is to make sure -- my job is to make sure she's ready and I feel she's ready.

Yes, she can win, and I hope she will win. That's 100% the goal.

Q. If she will win or she can win?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: I think she will win. I don't know she will win because I don't know the history of what's gonna happen in the future. I don't read in the future so I cannot say she will win, but I think she will win, yes.

Q. You guys have had such a winning collaboration, but did you worry at all that what happened at the US Open might irreparably damage your relationship? Did you even worry that she might say, Patrick, I can't -- you know, you might get thrown under the bus for what happened there?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: No, I didn't worry about that at all. For many reasons. I'm going to name a few, probably I will forget some. First of all, I hope that every time a coach gets a code violation for coaching he doesn't get fired, otherwise there will be guys fired every two days, a problem.

Second, I hope that our seven years' relationship is a bit stronger than a chair umpire.

Third, that would be -- if she would have done something -- I think that would be an emotional decision, and she doesn't do that. She's much too smart to do that. And even though I would have made a big mistake, which I don't think I did, even though, I mean, she does mistakes too. We are all human, and it's fine. It's not a reason for taking a decision that would have an impact on your future.

And I think she's smart enough to think like that. Is it the right person for me to get what I want or not? If not, okay. But she doesn't need a chair umpire to know that.

Q. Is she more motivated here? Did she gain some extra motivation that she's carrying to this tournament by not winning in New York and what happened?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: I don't think she's more motivated. I think she was very motivated last year, but it was just too early for her. I don't think she was ready. I mean, she was ready to reach a final but there is a big difference between reaching a final and winning it. I don't think she was ready.

I didn't want to say it when she lost, because it sounds like an excuse. But you cannot buy time. Things take time. To get back to shape, back in shape after a baby, a few months are not enough. I mean, still she could have won because she's doing things other people don't, but it was -- I mean, the story said it was too early. That's it.

Q. Just a follow-up on that, in getting Serena to the point where she's ready, would you say that's mostly a matter of the gym, fitness, running, getting that sort of, that aspect of her in shape, or is it more technical? You really need to spend more time on the court or more time in the gym?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: I think it's a combination. First of all, you need your body to work perfectly well to compete at the highest level, and I think the transformation of the body for a woman when she has a baby is huge, and to get back to what it was before, you need time and you need a lot of exercise, but not exercise for two months. It's a long process.

And more than that, for many months, you can't do what you want to do, because the body is not able to do it, so you have to go really step by step. So you can't practice.

And, for example, before Roland Garros, I didn't want to make her move on the court because I thought it was dangerous for her. I didn't want her to get hurt. So she was practicing staying on one side, and then she has to compete at Roland Garros.

And then there is the emotional part also and the transformation between -- I mean, yeah, she's a professional tennis player and she becomes a mother and it's a big transformation in her life, and I don't think that it's something that you deal with easily. You know, you need to also adapt to your new life, and I think it took time too.

Q. You talked before the tournament about might add more entertainment to tennis and the production of it. There are a lot of cameras behind the scenes here, capture moments in the halls. Players sometimes don't seem to be aware they are on camera.
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: I know which one you're talking about.

Q. I'm curious what you make of those cameras. You have been on them a lot already. If it's too much into privacy or if it's good for the show. You were on Serena's reality show, too, so you know how that industry works, but I'm curious what you make of them in this tournament setting.
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: I think it's great, and I think there should be much more of that, because I think -- I mean, if I speak generally, I believe our sport's fans get old, they are my age, to tell you how old they get, and I think we have to really worry about seducing the young generations with our sport.

Our sport is very, very conservative, which is good because we respect the history of the game, that's great, but also we have to live in our times, and we have to be able to make the moves today so tomorrow our sport will still be one of the biggest sports in the world. And if we don't do it -- and unfortunately for many, many subjects, people don't do what they should do at the right moment, and after, they regret and they move too fast and do mistakes because they didn't do the right move at the right time, so it's a big subject.

I think that the fans of course they need to know the players, so the behind the scenes are so important, because for a simple reason: We are, I think, in this room, all tennis fans. We love tennis, and just watching a good tennis match is enough for us. But the people who are not tennis fans, they don't understand tennis well because tennis is complicated, even the score, how you count the score is complicated, those people, we have to attract them. So if they root for a player or they hate a player, that's great, because they feel emotion when they watch tennis.

We love sport because of emotions. So they need to know the players. I think all those behind the scenes that show the personalities of the players, to let the players express themselves in matches even though they break racquets is not killing anyone, is just behaving emotionally. And people are human and it's great to show they are human and they are not machines and they have emotions. They have good emotions, they have bad emotions.

What Frances Tiafoe did in this tournament I think is unbelievable for our sport, is fantastic. But we need all that and we need to encourage that and we don't need to create anything because this can happen if you let it happen and if you are here to capture it.

So the cameras capture a reality. Coaching is part of the game. If you show it, it's also an incredible adventure for the people to see. So there are a lot of things that can be done, and I really push -- I mean, I hope I'm not the only one pushing that direction, because I know how much our sport -- and I'm on both sides. I'm also on the broadcast side, because I'm working for the TVs, and I know how much it's really necessary and how much we have to do it.

I'm happy that the Laver Cup exists, because the Laver Cup showed that there is not only one way to show a tennis match. I'm not saying that all the matches should be like Laver Cup but there are a lot of very interesting things, and nobody believed in those kind of formats and we have to realize that everybody loves it, because it has to be an entertainment. So that's my... I was a bit long, but sorry.

Q. Backers of Serena would say, Maybe something's happening at the US Open, going all the way back to the four bad calls and the Capriati match which led to Hawk-Eye and the foot-fault call deep into the match with Clijsters, the obstruction call, and then what happened this year. What are your thoughts? Do you think something happens with Serena at the US Open? Is there a kind of double standard? Do you think what happened this year was correct or wrong?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: I don't want to talk about that. Not that I'm -- I'm really okay to talk about that, believe me, more than you can think, but I want Serena to be into her tournament. I don't want all these things around that everybody tries to bring back. We have a tournament to win. I want her to win it. She wants to win it.

So let's talk about it after the tournament. Believe me, I'm okay to talk about it. I'm happy to.

Q. Why do you think your relationship with Serena endures? Because a lot of players keep changing coaches and whatever. Is it just that she's won so many slams with you? Is there some kind of dynamic about both of your personalities?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: I think there are several things. First of all, she's a very loyal person. She's incredibly loyal. Answering another question that you asked, did I think that she would stop after the US Open? No, because also because she's loyal.

I think she also, she's very responsible. Like, she doesn't blame others for her problems. She loses a match, she doesn't say it's my fault. Even though I think it's my fault, too. But this is me with myself.

She would never blame me. She takes everything on her. Because she's strong enough and courageous enough and confident enough to be able to look at herself and say, I failed. Not that many people do that. It's easier to put it on somebody else. She does not do that.

So that's already two main reasons. It's her personality. Being loyal and the second thing I said.

Maybe also -- and I think also we have a very strong relationship. I think we trust each other. We have been very successful. It counts, too. And I think it's refreshing also to see that when there are problems, the first reaction of the player is not to say, Okay, I get rid of the coach, it's going to be better. It's not going to be better. It's not about that. It's about the connection and the trust.

I mean, I completely understand that a player would stop or a coach would stop with the player if the trust is not here anymore, because it won't work. You have to trust your coach 100%, and believe what he's saying and believe he's the right person for you. Maybe she probably does; otherwise she might have changed. But again, she's incredibly loyal. It's a trait of her personality.

Q. If Carlos Ramos is appointed a chair umpire during one of the next few games, would that be an issue for Serena or would that be a psychological-emotional hangover from what happened at the US Open?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: So you're trying to get me to explain again. I'm not going to answer that question. I cannot answer for her. I can answer for myself. I don't want to answer for her. How she would feel, I don't know.

And again, I understand you want to talk about the future, but it brings back to this US Open, and I don't want to talk about that now.

Q. Unless there is something that I have missed, you have never been pregnant before and you have never...
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: You have a good eye.

Q. You have never had a baby.
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: Yeah, I had many but not myself.

Q. Right. You have never given birth, I mean. But obviously having a relationship where you guys can talk honestly about what Serena is going through and communicate like what's happening with her and her body and her hormones and all that stuff, I would imagine is really important. So if you don't know, like, what it's like to be pregnant, how do you coach someone who is coming back from having a baby?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: First of all, I always try to understand and I always try to put myself in the shoes of my player. I mean, and I think I should be able to do that. Because I think that's the role of the coach. And you can't coach someone if you don't completely understand the person.

And you should be able to coach somebody who thinks completely different than you who has a different culture, who have different emotions, and you have to be able to feel those emotions too. I think that's how to coach, so I hope I have been able to do that with Serena after -- I mean, during her pregnancy I was not coaching her except at the start but I didn't know she was pregnant (smiling).

But coming back from, after the delivery, yes, but I think when you are very connected with your player or with whoever in life, you feel the emotions of the person, and you're able to have the right dialogue at the right time to get -- that's basically the essence of our work, you know.

In order to bring the player to reach the goal he or she wants to achieve, you have to be able to navigate and say the right thing at the right time to make them do the right thing and have the right attitude and -- I mean, if it was just about telling your player you have to work hard and this and this, I think I would do another job, but it's much more subtle, and it's so much about the relationship and how to deal with the emotion of the other person.

So I think I cannot -- I think I understand even though -- I understand a lot of things that I didn't experience, and I think humans are able to, if they really want to and they really try to, understand other people that are very different and have different emotions. The problem is a lot of people don't try to, and they think everybody should think like them and feel like them and if you coach like that you're not a good coach, so I hope I don't do that.

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