“I Wanna Cool Down,” Serena Williams’ Extraordinary Off Switch Is the Making of a Champion, as Former Coach Points Out

The adage “Champions are not born, they are made” often sparks the question: What truly distinguishes the most elite athletes? According to Serena Williams’ former coach, the answer lies more in mindset than mere physical prowess. Having guided the careers of notable tennis players such as Marcos Baghdatis, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Laura Robson, and Simona Halep, this experienced Frenchman has observed a fundamental truth: “Champions have a different mindset. Champions think like champions.” This begs the question: Just how different was Serena Williams’ mental approach compared to her peers?

In July 2022, Mouratoglou explained the importance of having the right mindset to be successful in any field. He said, “Champions, they have the mindset and the mindset builds the tennis. So it’s all about the mindset. And this is true for everything. Whatever you do, if you have the right mindset, you are gonna make it. Some players that I know they are champions in their minds.” The Frenchman gave the examples of 17-year-old Novak Djokovic and a young Serena Williams to explain what it takes to be a real champion. He also highlighted the role of a coach in helping these champions “process” in a way that it makes them become what they want to become.

Just a few weeks ago, at the Soul Boom podcast, he spoke about how Williams used to think she “can do anything”. Highlighting one instance from their initial days, he said, “She told me, ‘Oh, I don’t understand how I lost this Australian Open.’ I don’t know which year. I said, ‘But you broke ligaments of the leg.’” To this Williams replied, “‘And? I should have won on one leg.’” Talking on a similar note during an April 24th interview with Molly Fletcher, Mouratoglou shared yet another story.

He said, “I always tell this story of Serena, which is for me very striking because we started together in 2012. She didn’t win a Grand Slam for 2 years when we started and she lost in the first round of the Roland Garros, and then she called me, and then we started the next tournament in Wimbledon. And she won Wimbledon in singles and doubles, and then she won the Olympics three weeks later. Gold medal in singles and doubles! Then we go to the US Open, she wins the US Open, and at the end of the season, she wins the Masters, and she comes back to number one.” There’s a lengthy backstory attached to it!

After that, Serena Williams’ former coach revealed that she told him, “‘I can’t win Roland Garros, I’m trying for 10 years. I won only once in 2002. We’re in 2013 now, and I haven’t…I can’t win it for 10 years. Can you please make a plan for me to win?’” According to Mouratoglou, he made a plan for her after that, and she not only won Roland Garros but also didn’t lose a match on clay the whole season. Highlighting her incredible performance in that season, the Frenchman revealed how the reporters used to doubt Williams’ abilities on clay. She shut all her doubters with her performance!

Adding more about her champion mentality, Mouratoglou then said, “At the end of the trophy ceremony, when she won Roland Garros, she goes down the stairs, and she comes to me and says, ‘Come with me, I wanna cool down’. So we go to the room to cool down and I see she’s thinking and after a few minutes she turns to me and she says, ‘Okay, now we have to win Wimbledon!’ And at that moment, I knew she had forgotten already about winning Roland Garros, which happened five minutes ago. She was chasing for 10 years. So, that’s what champions have.”

Interesting Fact: Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slam titles in her career, and three (2002,2013,2015) out of them came at the French Open.

In another interview with Daniela Hantuchova ahead of the 2025 Madrid Open, Patrick Mouratoglou shared yet another interesting story. He highlighted his response to Williams being labeled as “stupid” by one of the people sitting beside him during a match.

Even then, he highlighted Williams’ incredible mindset by saying, “Yeah she has a great game, of course, yes she’s strong physically, ok, but she’s Serena because of her mindset. End of the story.” What is the secret behind this champion mentality, though?

Serena Williams’ childhood mentor revealed how Williams sisters were literally “brainwashed” to become number 1

Rick Macci, the first coach chosen by Richard Williams for his daughters Venus and Serena Williams, has seen their transition from rising stars to being two of the biggest superstars in the tennis world from a very close distance. Both these sisters first practiced under Macci in 1991, but four years later, Richard took over the full coaching responsibilities for his daughters and stopped sending them to the academy.

Talking about building the right mindset from a very young age, Macci recalled how Richard used to draw examples of tennis legends to push his daughters toward achieving further heights. In one instance, Macci recalled, “They both said ‘Rick, we were literally brainwashed to become No. 1’ and that maybe can work if you have the speed, the quickness, and the right coaching but I never talked to either of them and we talked about this even when they were 10 and 11 and Serena was not really that good.“

Narrating more on that story he further added, “I have probably ten thousand parents see that video and say ‘My kid is better than that’, but they did not see what was under the hood and where this could go like coaches kinda project and I always would say ‘Steffi would get that, Martina would get that, Capriati, that is not gonna work against her’. I was not talking about 12-year-olds, it was always the future and that is kinda how I build a player.”

Last year, in another tweet, he highlighted how Richard shaped his daughters to have the minds of champions, referencing a beloved chicken snack. “Never Ever heard him make an excuse for his girls. Never. Mindset of 3 future champions baked in Triple Extra Crispy from the ghetto. @serenawilliams @Venuseswilliams.”

Becoming a champion requires one to have the utmost confidence in their strategy and persistence in their efforts, but how important do you think it is to build the right mentality from a very young age?