French coach Patrick Mouratoglou has once again reiterated calls for on court coaching to be allowed at all tournaments as he draws positives from his US Open controversy earlier in the year.
Mouratoglou, who is the coach of 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams, was accused of coaching from the stands during the US Open final. An offence that is currently forbidden in the main draws of all grand slam tournaments. Umpire Carlos Ramos slammed Williams with a warning for coaching that triggered a dramatic clash between the two. The former world No.1 insisted that she was not receiving coaching, before later being punished by Ramos for Racket and verbal abuse. Williams ended up with a game penalty and was later fined $17,000 by officials.
“One very good thing has happened as a consequence of Serena Williams’ experience in the US Open final: people throughout tennis are again discussing the whole issue of on-court coaching. It is a subject which has actually been on the agenda for all the sport’s governing bodies for five years now.” Mouratoglou wrote in an editorial for Tennis Head Magazine.
At first Williams’ mentor admitted that he did break the rules at the US Open before the former world No.1 dismissed those comments.
Coaching is currently only allowed on the WTA Tour and has been since 2008. Critics argue that tennis is an individual sport and the players should work out for themselves how to win matches instead of rely on others. On the other hand, Mouratoglou has alleged that many on the tour break the rules regarding on-court coaching, but are rarely punished.
“It is also a very basic truth that the vast majority of tennis coaches are actually coaching on court, despite the rules. Occasionally the players are punished for it, but for the most part they are not.” He said.
“Those who continue to oppose on-court coaching are either watching matches on TV, in which case they can’t see everything that is happening on court, or they are ignoring the evidence of their own eyes.”
Continuing will his argument, the 48-year-old went on to say that players should only be allowed to communicate with their mentor during matches in English. Claiming that English is the ‘international language of tennis.’ Although it is argued that this would leave some players at a disadvantage.
“If the coach and player are communicating in Slovakian or Arabic or Mandarin, most people – including the commentators – aren’t going to understand what is being said.” He explained
“English is the international language of tennis. I know there are some coaches, even at a high level, who do not speak very good English, but that is not right. We are professional coaches. We travel on the tour all year and we’re supposed to speak English.”
As to what the future holds, Mouratoglou said on court coaching ‘is clearly going to happen’ at all tournaments. Whether or not that prediction comes true remains to be seen.
