Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, revealed what the former’s father told him about his lofty aspirations with his two daughters. Williams’ father, Richard, was one of the main individuals during the primary years of the Williams sisters’ tennis career.
Notably, it was also Williams’s father who had pushed both Serena and Venus towards playing tennis and also coached them during their junior years. As things turned out for them, this motivation led to one of the most decorated sibling duos in the history of the sport, with multiple Grand Slam and Olympic medals to their name.
Mouratoglou, who was Williams’ coach for nearly a decade, recently spilled the beans about the mindset of Richard Williams while nourishing his daughters. The French coach shared that Williams’ father had told him that he wanted to instill a system of self-belief and faith in his two daughters.
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Additionally, Williams' father had also asserted to Mouratoglou that his daughters would have been successful irrespective of the fields they chose. Mouratoglou said (via his Instagram handle):
"Richard Williams, way before I started to coach them, and he told me my main focus was to create two young ladies that were believing in themselves. Whatever they would have done, they would have been successful. We chose tennis but if they wanted to be runners or singers or whatever, they would have succeeded because they had this incredible self-esteem."
"This is the masterpiece because why would you do crazy efforts, working crazy hard to achieve something you don't really believe in?" Mouratoglou added further.
Patrick Mouratoglou's stint with Serena Williams between 2012-2022 was spectacularly successful, highlighted by 10 Grand Slam singles titles and a couple of gold medals at the 2012 Olympics.
Patrick Mouratoglou reveals Serena Williams' retirement plans after the 2012 French Open first-round loss
Patrick Mouratoglou recently revealed that Serena Williams had wanted to retire from the sport after her 2012 French Open first-round loss. Williams had lost the match to Virginie Razzano in three sets.
Speaking in a conversation, Mouratoglou stated that Williams had decided to end her career after winning just another Grand Slam title after her lean patch during that time in Grand Slam events, and the first-round loss at the 2012 Roland Garros. He said (via Tennis Channel, 6:00 onwards):
"She lost in the first round of Roland Garros, but also two years without winning a Grand Slam, which is a lot for Serena. She told me, ‘I just want to win one more and potentially end my career’"
Patrick Mouratoglou further added that following this brief stint, Williams came all guns blazing and won several Grand Slam titles in the subsequent months, which derailed the latter's retirement plans.
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