'I had a conversation with Serena' - Patrick Mouratoglou to work with Simona Halep as her full-time coach
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ByEurosport
Published 07/04/2022 at 12:46 GMT
Patrick Mouratoglou has mentored several top players including Stefanos Tsitsipas and Coco Gauff but has not coached one professional full-time since working with Serena Williams at Wimbledon last year. Williams has not played on the tour since and Mouratoglou flew to Los Angeles to get approval from the 23-time Grand Slam champion to coach Simona Halep.
Simona Halep
Image credit: Getty Images
Former world number one Simona Halep is now working with Patrick Mouratoglou as her full-time coach.
It is the first time Mouratoglou will be working exclusively as a coach for a player on tour since working with Serena Williams for 10 years.
The Romanian began collaborating at the Mouratoglou Academy, located between Nice and Cannes in France, this week.
The pair will officially begin working together on the tour in Madrid next month ahead of the WTA 1000 tournament which gets underway on April 28 as preparations ramp up for the French Open in late May.
"You know me as Serena Williams’ coach. Today I start a new chapter in my coaching career: I am Simona Halep’s full-time coach," Mouratoglou wrote in a newsletter sent to his subscribers at midday on Thursday.
He wrote on Twitter: "Today, I am starting a new chapter in my coaching career: I am now the full-time coach of Simona Halep.
"In the last eight months I realised how much I missed coaching. It is the passion of my life, and I still feel like I have so much to give.
"Simona came to the Mouratoglou Academy before Indian Wells for a training block. I swung by at a few of her practices, watched her train.
"At the end of the week, she asked me if I was available to coach her. I have the highest respect for her but it was out of the question at the time.
"A few weeks later, I had a conversation with Serena and the door opened for me, at least short term, to work with someone else. I will keep you updated on what’s coming soon."
After her 2021 season was blighted by injury, Halep has played 22 matches this season and won the Melbourne Summer Set 1 title, as well as reaching both the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and the Indian Wells semi-finals.
Mouratoglou believes the 30-year-old, currently ranked No.19 in the world, can reach the top of the women’s game again.
"The goal is to probably one day stop her career thinking, ‘I’ve done the maximum of what I could have done'" he told Tennis Majors.
"She has been No 1 (she became No 1 for the first time in October 2017 and last held top spot in January 2019), she has won Grand Slams (French Open 2018 and Wimbledon 2019).
"There is no reason why she couldn’t or she wouldn’t be able to do that again. She’s a champion.
"I also feel that she has a big margin for improvement in many aspects, and she’s still very hungry.
"So I think it’s a fantastic basis to build something and with the goal to do at least as good as before."
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