The coach of 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams believes there is no need for concern over her form ahead of the French Open.
Patrick Mouratoglou has told Sky Sports that he is ‘not worried’ if the American will be ready in time for the tournament which will start on May 30th. Williams has played in two tournaments on the clay so far this year and only managed to record one match win. At the Italian Open she lost her opening match to Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska who reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros in 2020. Then at this week’s Parma Open she defeated teenager Lisa Pigato before falling in straight sets to Katerina Siniakova.
Despite the disappointments, Mouratoglou is keeping an optimistic outlook heading into Roland Garros. An event Williams hasn’t won since 2015. The American hasn’t won a major title for four years but has come close on numerous occasions. Settling for runner-up at four Grand Slams between 2018-2019. Her most recent disappointment was at the Australian Open where she lost to Naomi Osaka in the semi-finals.
“I think she lost because she was not ready,” Mouratoglou told Sky Sports. “I don’t know, but maybe it was not a good idea to go and play in Parma after losing in Rome because her match in Rome showed a lot of things that still needed to be worked on to be able to compete at the highest level.
“I think it’s always interesting to play matches because it gives you a clear vision of where you are, so that was good in that way because we know what she still needs to accomplish in order to be ready for Roland Garros.
“I’m not worried in general because if she does the job she will be ready. It’s just about doing the job.”
Despite her impressive resume, silverware on the Tour has been a rare occurrence for Williams since giving birth to her daughter back in 2017. The only trophy she has won since then was at the ASB Classic in Auckland at the start of last year.
With less than two weeks before the start of the French Open, Mouratoglou is confident that the former world No.1 will be able to get back to winning ways as he made reference to her work during the Australian Open a couple months ago.
“We have to go on the court, work, and day after day I will see. To be completely honest with you when I saw her before the Australian Open for preparation, I thought ‘wow’ – a lot of work to get ready. But in a short period of time she was able to really hit great form. She played really well, but unfortunately not through the whole tournament – until the semi-finals,” he commented.
“She played great tennis, moving well, and it didn’t take her too much time to get ready.”
The upcoming French Open will be Williams’ 78th appearance in a Grand Slam main draw.
