Former world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo will return to the world of men’s tennis after agreeing to become the new coach for Lucas Pouille, according to French sports newspaper L’Equipe.
Mauresmo, 39, has been brought in replace Emmanuel Planque, who ended his partnership with the world No.32 earlier this year. Planque had worked with Pouille for six years, guiding him to a ranking high of 10th in March and five titles on the ATP World Tour. Their partnership ended on mutual grounds after what has been a disappointing 2018 season for the Frenchman. After the French Open, Pouille only managed to win back-to-back matches at two out of 11 tournaments.
It is unclear as to how Mauresmo will conduct her new role. From 2019 she will also become the French Davis Cup captain. Taking over from Yannick Noah and becoming the first woman to hold that position. Pouille has previously said he will skip the team competition in protest over the new changes. But if he changes his mind, there may be a potential conflict of interests. Something the French Tennis Federation will look at. Mauresmo also has two young children with her partner.
It is not the first time Mauresmo has coached a player on the ATP Tour. Between 2014-2016 she coached three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray. During that period, Murray won seven tour titles and reached the final of the Australian Open twice.
“I am thinking of Andy because without him I would not be here today,” The two-time grand slam champion commented about Murray in June.
“He had confidence in me when others thought that it was an aberration.”
Pouille ends the year with a win-loss record of 25-21 and is outside the top-30 in the year-end rankings for the first time since 2015. He is set to kick-off his new season at the Sydney International in January.
