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US OPEN

September 1, 2019

Patrick Mouratoglou

New York, NY, USA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you just talk a little bit about, from your perspective, what you have seen from the first week from Serena and what you're pleased about and if there is any concerns, things you think you should still be working on?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: Concerns, no, not at all. As I said before the tournament, I felt she was getting better and better. I explained that, and I'm going to say the same, sorry, but I think it's important that she's coming back from being a mother. You can't come back in the same shape as before in a few months. It takes time. I never had a baby, but probably some of you had here. A lot of men, so probably not (smiling).

Okay. You know it's a big thing, a big transformation for the body. It's also a new responsibility, so I think it takes time to come back to the person you were before, especially physically for a top athlete.

She was able to still to reach three Grand Slam finals, which I think was really an incredible effort. But I said that, and I feel that time works for her, and I know it can sound strange because she's not very young, but still I think so for the reasons I just explained. So I feel she's moving better now than she was a few months ago. She also was injured a lot.

Before the tournament, I felt she was ready, and what I saw the first week, I didn't see only great performances. Some matches were tough. The match against Caty McNally was difficult, I think, also because Caty played really well and put a lot of pressure on Serena with a game that is quite unusual.

It's not easy to feel comfortable playing players who play that type of game, because you're just not used to it. But she found a way to win, ended up the match quite well, and I think the level is rising.

I was very happy with today's match and also with the previous one, actually. I have no concerns at all. I'm quite happy.

Q. She's been pretty good since she's been a mom of getting deep into Grand Slams. At this point are you thinking of doing anything differently as you kind of get towards the second half of this Grand Slam, trying to peak at the right time or not run out of energy or something to stop her from losing a fourth straight if she makes it?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: Clearly the goal is not to lose in final. It happened three times. My opinion on that is that clearly a final is not a match like any other. I know she's played a lot in her life, but still, there is a special emotion in a final, especially when you're supposed to win and when you are called Serena you are supposed to win all the time.

So it's not the same as for another player playing a final, an unexpected player in the final, for example, or anyway, so the pressure is very important, even more when you play to beat the record of all times.

And when you have emotions and you're tighter than usual, it's important for you to have a plan B, to feel like, okay, if this doesn't work I can do other things. And when you're not fit, you don't have a plan B. I mean, the level of stress goes to another level, because you have no other option and the option 1 is not working.

That's why I thought that it was very important for her to get back again to her best shape to have the movements, because when you're able to move well, even if you don't hit the ball the way you want, you can still put the ball in play, rally, and slowly but surely get your rhythm back. And also you have other options.

So that's basically, I think -- because that's my view on what happened in the past, and I have seen her very tight or nervous in the past in other Grand Slam finals, not playing well but winning because she had many other options that she didn't have the last three.

Q. You touched on the injuries. You saw the ankle today. Are you of the mindset this is significantly less severe than Australia? What was your take on it after treatment?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: It doesn't seem -- there is the video, but what is more important is how she feels and how the ankle looks. The ankle looks okay. She doesn't feel much pain. She feels, but it's acceptable. And we will know tomorrow when it's going to be cold.

Q. A tough question. When you look back to last year's final, do you regret making the gestures that you did? What do you say to yourself? In some cases, when a coach would do that, the player might say, Get out of here, we're done. The two of you have stayed together. Talk about that bond and that loyalty.
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: It's not going to be a short answer. You know that. Tough question requires long answer.

I disagree with the fact that the player could say to the coach he should leave because he did the coaching, he provoked a coaching violation. Because the player asked the coach to coach them at every match. I'm on tour for 20 years, and we all know that. They all do it because also the players want them to help, you know.

And because everybody is doing it, of course, as a player, you want your coach to do it, too. Otherwise you're penalized compared to all the others.

I take this example because I think that's exactly the reality of the tour. You're not supposed to -- when the fire light is red, you're not supposed to -- you're supposed to stop. If nobody stops, the police is here and they don't say anything, the rule becomes -- the use becomes the rule.

That's exactly the story of coaching. On paper it's not authorized. Everybody coaches. I mean, let's not say everybody because it's never everybody, but let's say 90%, it's probably more, but let's say 90. You see that every day on every court. Everybody knows it. Chair umpires are very nice with that. They don't care much. If really it's too obvious they would say, Please be careful. It's too obvious. Then they are more discreet. That's what you see every day.

Why a player should fire a coach because he gets a warning for that? Doesn't make sense to me.

So this is to answer the second question. Do I regret? Not at all. Not at all. For me, I didn't do anything bad. I just did what all the coaches do.

As I said, and I say it again, I usually never do it. So that was extremely unfair, because he penalized somebody -- he knows I'm not doing it. I did it once. Nobody gives a warning for the first time. They just tell you, Be careful. Actually tell you to be careful usually after four or five times. Anyway, so I think it was completely unfair.

Do I regret? No, I felt like she was lost at that moment and I tried to help her doing something that everybody does that is the use of the tennis.

I would do the same tomorrow. Really. 100%. And if I'm penalized again, I think it's unfair the same way. If I'm penalized, then everyone should be penalized every day. And nobody is. Nobody. Once every -- you know how it is. I'm okay to be penalized if I did something really bad that is not -- when you smash the racquet, you always have a warning. This is really the rule and the use.

So this is something nobody complains about because we know that -- I think it's the most stupid rule. I don't think we should get penalized for that. That's how it is.

This is fine. But when you never, and nobody is penalized or almost never, I don't think it's fair. So do I regret? No. Would I do it again tomorrow if it's necessary? Yes.

Q. A question about Holger Rune. What's your impression of him as a player, his potential? What does he need to do in order to take the next step?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: Holger is Danish tennis player, for those who don't know him, who is part of my academy since maybe four years, something like that, and who just won Roland Garros in juniors, the last Roland Garros.

I think he's very talented. He's a great competitor. I think that's one of his best qualities. I think it's one of the most important quality to reach the top of the tennis game.

I think if you're not a great competitor, you can be a very good player but you cannot be a top-top. So he has that, which is great. I think he has a very close and solid relationship with his coach for many, many years now that they're building on.

We are talking about having him now 100% full time at the academy, because that's what he wants. As soon as he will be here, I can tell you much more about him, but he's also an incredible hard worker, ambitious. I mean, the mental qualities of the kid, which to me are the most important, and when I'm asked about Coco because she came also to my academy when she was 10 for a test, so of course I accepted her, I would say the same qualities. Maybe not at the same level. There are of course levels. But incredible competitor, incredibly ambitious, and someone who believes in himself or herself. I think if, when you have that, you already made it halfway. You are already halfway.

Q. Only three mothers have won slams before. Is there anything you have noticed in the process that's been educational for you or that you wouldn't have expected that has been surprising or gratifying?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: I think the first months are very difficult after the birth, because -- I mean, that was the case for Serena. I don't know if it's always like that. I can understand that it can be like that for most of the mothers.

She was feeling guilty -- she was feeling that the baby needed her a lot because a young baby is very weak, and I think as a mother you feel like you need to be here all the time to protect the baby. Whenever she was not here because she needed to practice or to play a match, she was feeling guilty.

And I think it was the first months it was hurting her a lot, because tennis has always been her priority, at least since 2012. Before, I don't know. It was her No. 1 priority. And suddenly taking care of the baby becomes a priority for the reasons that I understand. Not that it's not a priority now, but now she's less -- she feels less guilty about leaving her to play tennis, because she feels she doesn't depend as much on her as when she was really small. So maybe this I would not expect.

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