Nick Kyrgios’ podcast Good Trouble With Nick Kyrgios in collaboration with Naomi Osaka’s Hana Kuma brand, has been quite the hit. His recent guest was a renowned tennis coach who helped Serena Williams win 10 Grand Slam titles, including 3 French Open, i.e. Patrick Mouratoglou.
Of all the things Mouratoglou discussed in the episode, he also touched upon the 2018 US Open final fiasco between Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and the chair umpire Carlos Ramos.
As the episode went along smoothly, Nick Kyrgios asked Patrick Mouratoglou about the 2018 US Open final. The Frenchman was present when her then pupil, Serena Williams was involved in one of the ugliest controversies of her career.
What happened was that Serena was penalized by Ramos for allegedly taking coaching advice from Mouratoglou from the side. Williams lost her temper as she couldn’t bear the accusation of ‘cheating’, especially since she was a new mother then.
The American legend was hurt and upset and constantly yelled at Ramos for going ahead with his decision. This affected Williams mentally and she lost the final match to Osaka.
Patrick Mouratoglou once again talked about that episode on Nick Kyrgios’ podcast and he was quoted as saying:
“It was a bittersweet day for Naomi because it was her first Grand Slam, but this drama [Serena – Ramos argument] took even more attention… For us, it was really painful, and we had a lot of bad press.”
The renowned coach seems calm about it now, given that it’s been 6 years since that incident. He, however, also found that two good things came out of that aspect.
“First of all, the drama was so big because it was the Grand Slam final and it was Serena that all the media all around the world, even not sports media, were talking about tennis. So for tennis, it was a great day. Second, it participated into discussion to change the rule,” Mouratoglou added.
Mouratoglou was happy that somehow that ugly incident was responsible for tennis being a major talking point worldwide. He believes the sport needed that.
It also led to the change in rules about players seeking coaching advice openly during a match (as per a NY Times report), which Mouratoglou is happy about. He further elaborated on his point by disagreeing respectfully with Nick Kyrgios’ view –
“I understand your point, that it’s the only sport in which the players have to figure out by themselves, and I understand that it can be exciting for the players and look good. But, I think that coaching is such a big part of sorts. I think moments of coaching can be so great.”
Kyrgios was saying that tennis is the only sport where players feel helpless on the court, and therefore learn to improve. Mouratoglou was of a different opinion and in fact, gave some pearls of wisdom to the mercurial Australian star.
Patrick Mouratoglou’s Precious Advice to Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios is renowned for having tried one coach after another from the beginning of his playing days. Some of his coaches over the years have been the likes of Todd Larkham, Desmond Tyson, Simon Rea and Sebastian Grosjean. Now, when he asked Mouratoglou about what kind of coach would he need, the 53-year-old coach had a great answer.
Mouratoglou said, “I feel you have what I call the ‘Syndrome of the Talented Player. Probably since you are a kid, everyone says you are very talented, so now its part of your identity to be talented. And the question is for someone like you, ‘Are you prepared to potentially lose a piece of your identity to be talented, to be a champion?’ But you’re not sure you’ll be a champion.”
After explaining this ‘syndrome’ to Kyrgios in detail, Mouratoglou said he knows several players like that. Another good example of this is Grigor Dimitrov. This seemed to have touched a nerve with Kyrgios.
Kyrgios eventually opened up that no matter how hard he worked during practice, the results never accounted for it. His career so far remains without any Grand Slam, even though he came very close to winning it.
It was overall an interesting episode. Both Mouratoglou and Kyrgios, who often take the brunt for being unconventional and outspoken, opened up a lot to each other and their fans during the episode.
