Serena Williams marked an end to her professional career in 2022 but her legend is still alive. In her 27-year-long career, the tennis star shared her journey with various mentors, including the period shared with renowned coach Patrick Mouratoglou. But did you know that even Serena went through a struggling phase in which she incurred a fear of stepping into the court?

In a recent episode of the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, Holger Rune’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou came forward to talk about the multiple experiences on his long journey associated with the sport. Mouratoglou shared an inspiring story about how a simple mental trick helped Serena regain her confidence and win one of the four Wimbledon titles she secured during the period shared with the Frenchman.

Serena was struggling with her volleys and was hesitant to approach the net. This fear was impacting her overall game. “She was missing all the volleys at the start of the tournament,” Mouratoglou explained, pressing on the fact that “because she was missing at the net, she was scared to move inside the court.”

Mouratoglou mentioned how he decided to use a psychological tactic to boost her confidence. He told Serena that she actually won 80% of the points when she approached the net, even though this wasn’t true at the time. “I said to her, ‘You know, when I see a short ball, I’m so comfortable. I can sleep on my two ears. I’m really super relaxed.’ She asked, ‘Why do you say that?’ I said, ‘Because you win 80% of the points at the net,'” Mouratoglou recalled. “Which was not true,” he laughed.

This tampered set of statistics worked wonders for the legend. “From that point until the end of the tournament, because she believed it, she started to be really efficient,” Mouratoglou added. Serena began playing with renewed confidence, attacking the net without fear. This false statistic became a reality miraculously and Serena won 80% of her net points from then on. This newfound confidence also helped her clinch the Wimbledon title that year.

Reflecting on the experience, Mouratoglou made it clear that he wasn’t “saying it’s because of that, but it helped for sure. She started to play without any fear forward. So it was not a lie; it was an anticipation.”

Mouratoglou shared a major part of his coaching career with Serena Williams. Joining hands with her in 2012, the renowned coach shared a long period of almost a decade in which she secured three Wimbledon titles. While she worked on attaining immense glory throughout this period, Mouratoglou worked closely with her to overcome the hassles. However, besides the struggling phase, the renowned coach also explained how he made her overcome a “bad habit”.

Patrick Mouratoglou helps Serena Williams overcome a forehand issue

The format of hitting regular shots is crucial in a player’s career. The renowned coach regularly keeps posting updates on social media. While his basic criteria are to use proper instances from players, Patrick Mouratoglou once used a frequent mistake that event Serena Williams committed during a phase of her career.

“When I started with Serena, she was doing the same. She was doing this. Why do this?” he mentioned in a tutorial on Instagram. “She corrected it. And after she was like this. She was using her hand more. So she had a bit of spin all the time. And then she is consistent and powerful,” the coach added, elaborating on the issue.

Mouratoglou played a crucial part in Serena’s overall journey to end up as a legend. While both of them shared a notable period of 10 years, it is evident that he saw the best and worst of the flawless tennis legend that we review.