“Everybody knows Serena Williams”: Patrick Mouratoglou defends controversial ‘superstar’ claim about women’s tennis despite noting Coco Gauff’s ‘aura’

June 10, 2025

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Patrick Mouratoglou, noted that women’s tennis lacks superstars like Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and players of that era. However, he admitted that Coco Gauff, who won the women’s singles title at the 2025 French Open, can be called a big star for her ‘aura’.

Serena Williams’ ex-coach, who now trains Japanese player Naomi Osaka, has been at the mouth of backlash after claiming that Iga Swiatek. Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka didn’t reach the height of popularity like Maria Sharapova and Williams did. He also talked about how women’s matches during the night at Roland Garros wouldn’t make sense if a superstar is not playing.

After Gauff’s victory at the 124th edition of the French Open, Mouratoglou defended his previous claim of women’s lacking superstars like Serena Williams. However, he noted that the American No. 2 can be called a headliner for her ‘aura’.

"There is a real difference between being a top player playing incredible tennis and a star. I explained that women's tennis at the moment lacks superstars. So there is one big star I think in women's tennis which is Coco, in terms of you know aura is higher than anyone at the moment. I'm not saying that they will not be in the future. I said that there has been huge superstars in women's tennis. I'm thinking about Serena, Venus, Sharapova."

Sharing how Serena Williams was capable of playing in sold out stadiums and even make her mark in non-tennis people, he said:

"When we went to Bostad in Sweden with Serena, the year before the final of Bostad, the stadium was not full. Serena comes. Before the start of the tournament, the stadium is sold out the whole week. Superstars fill up stadiums.. Take a taxi and ask questions. Oh do you know tennis? No I'm not a tennis fan. Okay who do you know? Ninety percent of the time I ask women, Serena. Those people are not tennis fans, but they know Serena. Everybody knows Serena. This is the difference with real."

Before Gauff, Williams was the last American woman to win the French Open title in 2018.

Patrick Mouratoglou was called out by a French player following Coco Gauff's win

Gauff at the 2025 French Open - Day Fourteen - (Source: Getty)

Patrick Mouratoglou invited Coco Gauff to a training session when she was 10 years old, as he was impressed by her athleticism and determination. Now, as he watched her lift the Coupe de Suzanne Lemglen on France TV, his past 'superstars' claim loomed up when French player Alize Cornet threw shade at him. The latter asked whether Gauff could be called a star or not now that he has won a Grand Slam.

"“Patrick, can we say that Gauff is a star?" she said.

Coco Gauff won ten career singles titles in her career besides making the semi-finals at the 2024 Australian Open and win the women's singles title at the 2023 US Open.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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