‘The Master of It’ – Serena Williams’ Ex-coach Brings American Legend Pete Sampras’ Name as He Draws Parallels to NBA

The last decade of the 20th century saw the emergence of many famous tennis players. From Andre Agassi to Serena and Venus Williams, the sport was graced by some big stars who went on to achieve legendary status. Amongst them was American tennis legend, Pete Sampras. The 52-year-old had an illustrious tennis career, winning 14 Grand Slam titles. Recently, Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou explained Sampras’ iconic shot.

Mouratoglou was a long-time coach of Serena, coaching her since June 2012. The two ended their successful partnership while Serena was nearing the end of her glorious career. The French tennis coach is active on social media and often shares useful tips for budding tennis players. Here’s what he said about Sampras’ famous shot.

Patrick Mouratoglou compares Pete Sampras’ jump smash to dunk in NBA

On his official Instagram handle, the 53-year-old tennis coach shared a video, explaining jump smash in tennis. He revealed that only two players executed this difficult shot to perfection, one of whom was Sampras.

Talking about this, Mouratoglou said, “Let’s talk about something fun to do, is called the jumping smash and there are 2 players who are great specialists or were great specialists of that: Pete Sampras. That’s why I’m saying ‘were’ who was probably the master of it.”

Further, he went on to add, “His famous one is to do serve and volley. The ball goes up and then he runs, jumps, and hits it. It’s kind of a dunk in NBA. It’s almost the same motion. And the other one who does it super well, it’s Gael Monfils. He loves it!”

Like this time, Mouratoglou picked another important tennis skill to teach budding tennis players. Additionally, he also revealed who had the best one-handed backhand in the sport.

DIVE DEEPER: 10 Years After Serena Williams’ Harsh Slap on Women’s Tennis, Her Ex-Coach Patrick Mouratoglou Sounds Off Fresh Controversy With a Heated Take

Mouratoglou snubs Federer for Wawrinka

Earlier this year, Serena’s ex-coach answered fan question about who had the best one-handed backhand in tennis. Responding to that question, he snubbed Federer and said, “I have to name Stan Wawrinka. He didn’t play that much and that well last year. Because he came back from an injury. But definitely the best one-handed backhand on the tour.”

Mouratoglou’s precious advice has played a significant impact on budding tennis players. While the likes of Coco Gauff and Stefanos Tsitsipas often train at his academy, he parted ways with Holger Rune as his official coach after a 6-month stint.

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