Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of Serena Williams, has shared insights on her recent defeats.

 

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion from America, aged 38, has experienced four significant final losses since the birth of her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., with her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, on Sept. 1, 2017.

 

Following a return to tennis four months post childbirth, her objective was to surpass Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. However, she has yet to achieve this goal. 

 

Serena Williams was eliminated in the third round of the Australian Open just last month.

 

Mouratoglou, working with her since 2012, expressed the need for the tennis icon to “revise her strategy” and “confront the reality” of failing to secure a Grand Slam title post her return to the sport.

 

In an interview with BBC Sport, Mouratoglou stated: “We have to accept the fact that it is not working. Maybe come back with a different angle, a different strategy and different goals so she can make it.”

 

He further added: “She does feel positive, she feels negative too because it is a failure when she doesn’t win a Grand Slam. We have to face reality, but she is positive that she can make it otherwise she probably wouldn’t be on a tennis court anymore. She believes she can make it and I believe it too. She’s not that far, but we have to change a few things.”

 

Commenting on her Australian Open performance, he remarked: “We didn’t expect at all to be losing so early, or to be losing at all. She had everything to retire, 23 Grand Slam titles. But she decided to come back, she decided to make all the efforts, the physical efforts, the mental efforts, to come back to the game, with the goal to score more Grand Slams and beat the all-time record. It’s difficult to know how many chances she will have, I don’t know how long she is going to be able to play, but being able to reach four Grand Slam finals says a lot about her level, and she’s not that far.”

 

Her level is good enough but we have to understand what is going on and why she is not able to win one. There is a big difference between reaching a final and winning one.”