“Its funny that its coming from Serena Williams”- Patrick Mouratoglou sets record straight on comparisons between men’s and women’s tennis

Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, recently went on record saying that men’s and women’s tennis are different, a sentiment also shared by the 23-time Grand Slam champion, but also added some insights of his own.

On Wednesday, he took to Instagram, where he recalled Williams’ interview during her playing time and her stating why men’s and women’s tennis are completely different.

“For me, men’s tennis and women’s tennis are completely, almost two separate sports. It’s a completely different sport. The men are a lot faster, they serve harder, and they hit harder. It’s just a different game,” Serena said in what appears to be a Late Night show.

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While Mouratoglou acknowledged her perspective, he offered more technical context on the matter.

"It's funny that it's coming from Serena, and that she says that men’s and women’s tennis are two different sports," Mouratoglou said. "I think it is. That’s true. But mainly, one reason is the fact that men are so much faster than women, movement-wise."

He emphasized that Serena Williams could hold her own in rallies with elite male players.

"Serena’s talking about the power of men, but Serena was hitting with guys, you know," Mouratoglou said.

"When I was coaching her, she played many times with Grigor Dimitrov and Tsitsipas. It was zero problem. Hitting from the center of the court, hitting cross-court—no problem. They were impressed, by the way. When the movement was involved, then it was different. And this, I agree with her.

Serena Williams' candid confession about the match against Andy Murray was more than just words, said Patrick Mouratoglou

In order to prove her point to highlight the big difference between men's and women's tennis, Serena Williams went on to say that if she were to face former World No. 1 and British tennis star Andy Murray one-on-one, she would lose the match without even winning a single game.

"If I were to play Andy Murray, I would lose 6-0, 6-0 in maybe 10 minutes," she said.

However, her former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, has a slightly different opinion on this. He said once upon a time, they even tried arranging this same matchup.

"We had the idea with Serena to play a match against Andy Murray," he said. "And then we had also an idea on how to reduce the difference between men and women to make this match extremely competitive. I’m not saying what, because I want to do it one day."

Serena Williams is one of the greatest women tennis player the sport has seen. Her take on the difference between men's and women's tennis raised eyebrows at the time, and she has her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, setting the record straight on her claim from years back.

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Krutik Jain

Krutik Jain is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. It was in 2018 when the baseball bug bit Krutik, and already a cricket fan, he credits baseball's rules and Clayton Kershaw's pitching to have hooked him to the game.

A Kershaw and Mookie Betts fan, Krutik rates his favorite team LA Dodgers triumphing over Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 World Series as his best baseball moment so far. His answer to the perennial "one player from the past you could meet" question is Jackie Robinson. Despite never having seen him play, Robinson's impact, legacy and trail-blazing journey have left an indelible impact on Krutik.

A rigorous fact-checker, Krutik likes reporting on the technical aspects of the game as well as off-field elements. When not watching baseball, Krutik is busy playing cricket, staying up to date with the happenings around the world and hiking.

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