Patrick Mouratoglou brings a lot of experience to the table. He has previously worked with Serena Williams for almost ten years as a coach! So his entry into Naomi Osaka’s team is definitely a big boost for the Japanese star but it has also raised the eyebrows of many in the tennis world. However, the most vocal among all of them has been Rennae Stubbs. “She (Osaka) has always looked up to Serena, so maybe she’s thinking that this is going to be her, you know, moment, where she can pick up someone who has, you know, molded the Serena Williams person,” Stubbs claimed. Is it the real reason though? Who took the first step forward in this partnership?

Not only did Stubbs bring Serena Williams into the discussion, but she also reminisced about the bitter memories of Mouratoglou with Simona Halep relating to the doping saga. She even stated, “We’ll see how long it lasts and we’ll see if he can turn her around.” It’s still early days in this new partnership. Naomi Osaka didn’t have the best outing in the 2024 season. She played only 38 matches this season and lost 17 out of them. Time will tell if Mouratoglou can really turn things around for her in the next season or not.

During a recent interview with SkySports, Patrick Mouratoglou opened up about the initiation of their partnership. Did he approach Naomi Osaka for the coaching role? Well, in reply to this, the Frenchman said, “Naomi came to me. I never come to players. I don’t do that. I think it’s weird. I think to work well it’s very important that a player expresses the motivation to work with you.” He further added, “Then there is an extremely good base to start something very solid. When a coach goes to a player to say, ‘I would like to work with you‘, I don’t think it puts him in a good position to work well.”

This isn’t the first time though, that Mouratoglou is speaking about his collaboration with Osaka. But now that he has already started working with Naomi Osaka, how does he look at the difference between coaching someone like Williams and coaching someone like Osaka?

“(With) Serena, motivation was extremely key after she beat the record of (Martina) Navratilova and Chris Evert (to reach 23 Grand Slam singles titles),” He believes his partnership with Williams clicked instantly because they both motivated each other in various ways during that phase. What is it now with Naomi Osaka, then?

“For Naomi, it’s different because she really feels she has to give and do much more. She had two very difficult years. First, she had this mental health issue, and then she had a baby. So she’s been out, and then she restarted the year this season and it was not a very good season,” said Mouratoglou. So, what’s next then? Can Naomi Osaka ever get back to her golden days? Well, she started the season ranking 833 in the world and now she’s ranked 59! So, surely there has been some progress in the last few months.

What does Patrick Mouratoglou say about Naomi Osaka’s motivation level at the moment?

It’s pretty hard for the fans to see the four-time Grand Slam champion struggle to bring out her A-game in crucial matches. Although we got a glimpse of her vintage show against Iga Swiatek at the 2024 French Open, still she has been pretty much ordinary in most of the tournaments this year. Can we expect something bigger from the former world number in the next year? According to Patrick Mouratoglou, “She’s (Naomi Osaka) extremely motivated to come back and win Grand Slams, and it’s a pleasure for me because that’s the dream of every coach: to have a player who has that level of motivation.“

Mouratoglou looks pleased with this chance of being able to coach one of the finest of the game, but do you know Naomi Osaka was initially in two minds before bringing him into the team? Well, previously during an interview with BBC, Osaka claimed, “The fact that he was Serena’s coach made me want to avoid him just because his persona is so big.” However, things changed when she finally got the chance to have a talk with him and work with him on the court. Will this partnership be a superhit?

Well, unlike Rennae Stubbs, the 34-year-old French tennis player, Alizé Lim said that she feels Mouratoglou can help Naomi Osaka both tactically and psychologically. She said, “I feel it would be a great association with Patrick Mouratoglou, to be honest.” According to her Patrick Mouratoglou’s strength is to help players regain their confidence and make them believe in their abilities and Naomi Osaka perhaps needs this more than anything else. What are your thoughts on this though? Can Mouratoglou bring back Osaka’s old form?