‘You Told People That You’re Coaching Me’ – Serena Williams Once Blasted Ex-Coach Patrick Mouratoglou for Ruining Her Chance to Script History at US Open

In 2018, Serena Williams played in the finals of the US Open against rising Japanese star Naomi Osaka. Although Osaka won the final, the American player grabbed all the headlines due to her infamous outburst against the chair umpire, Carlos Ramos.

Notably, Ramos gave a code violation to Serena Williams for coaching during the second set, which fueled the American player’s outburst on the court. Later, Serena’s coach at the time, Patrick Mouratoglou, admitted to giving hand singles as he tried to help her during the match. However, Serena completely denied that and blasted her coach for admitting such things.

Serena Williams once dismissed coach Patrick Mouratoglou’s claims

After the final, 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams said, “I just don’t understand what [coach Patrick Mouratoglou] was talking about because I asked him, you weren’t coaching, we don’t have signals, we’ve never had signals and he said he made a motion.“

“So you said you made a motion, now you told people that you’re coaching me. That doesn’t make sense, why would you say that?” she further said. 

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Notably, Serena was vying for her 24th Grand Slam title and was losing pretty badly to Osaka. During the second set, chair umpire Carlos Ramos saw some sort of hand signal from Mouratoglou and gave Serena a code violation. This incident irked the great American player, as she said to Ramos, “I don’t cheat to win; I would rather lose. I am just letting you know.”

Later, Serena received a point penalty after bashing her racket onto the court. At that moment, Serena continued to argue with the chair umpire and called him a ‘thief’. As a result, the chair umpire gave Serena a game penalty. In the end, Serena lost the match to Osaka 6-2,6-4. During the trophy ceremony, the crowd started to boo heavily, but Serena calmed them down with some nice words.

Mouratoglou and Serena parted ways before her comeback

In 2021 Wimbledon, Serena lost in the first round owing to an injury. Since retiring from the first round of Wimbledon, she did not play on the tour for nearly a year. In April this year, Serena and Mouratoglou ended their 10-year partnership when they announced their split.

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This news shocked many fans as Serena was on the verge of her return. Eventually, she returned to Wimbledon this year but lost again in the first round. Recently, she retired from professional tennis at the US Open and Mouratoglou was one of the many people who posted a farewell message for her on social media.

However, many fans took a dig at his message, as he neither tagged Serena nor gave a proper picture of her. On the other hand, Serena recently teased about making a comeback during a talk show. So, fans are hoping that the 23-time Grand Slam champion makes a miraculous return, possibly at the Australian Open next year.