Serena by Mark Hodgkinson

Author:Mark Hodgkinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: White Lion Publishing
Published: 2019-09-05T16:00:00+00:00

While she barely knew Mouratoglou, there was something about him that intrigued her.

In the practice week before the French Open, Serena had found herself repeatedly bumping into the Frenchman in the corridors of Roland-Garros, and while they would say hello and chat for a minute or two, their relationship didn’t go much deeper than that. While she barely knew Mouratoglou, there was something about him that intrigued her: she had noticed, over the years, how he had galvanised many of the players he had worked with, including guiding French–Iranian Aravane Rezaï into the top twenty of the women’s game, and mentoring Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who played in the 2006 Australian Open final and broke into the men’s top ten. Perhaps Mouratoglou could help her reboot her tennis life? It was coming up for two full years since she had last won a Grand Slam at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. Two years without a major, with a significant birthday in between – she had turned thirty in September 2011 – inevitably triggered discussions about Serena’s future in tennis. Would she ever win another slam? Could Mouratoglou offer her the tactical, technical and psychological guidance she needed?

More practically, Mouratoglou had a tennis academy just outside of Paris. Serena texted the coach: ‘I need a place to hit.’ They ended up talking on the phone and made a plan: Mouratoglou would send a car in the morning to take her to the academy, where he would provide her with a court and a couple of male sparring partners.

Their first practice session didn’t go quite as Serena had imagined: Mouratoglou didn’t say a word. The coach also didn’t hit a ball nor take a racket on to court; instead, he stood where the umpire’s chair would be and observed.

Mouratoglou had been aware of how desperately the American had played at Roland-Garros; in his part-time role as a television analyst, he had been in a studio during the match, and he and his colleagues had been shocked at her performance. Mentally, Mouratoglou thought, Serena had been ‘unrecognisable’: ‘Serena was negative and seemed lost out on court; she was in tears at every changeover and gave the impression that she had already lost.’ For half an hour on the practice court at the Paris academy, Serena hit groundstroke after groundstroke; the only sound was the popping of the tennis balls leaving her strings. Mouratoglou remained still and silent, just watching, and Serena became increasingly confused as to why he didn’t offer her any advice, encouragement or make a single comment. Mouratoglou’s silence only ended when Serena, taking her first break of the session, sat on a chair and called out to him: ‘Talk to me.’

With hindsight, it might seem that the future success of their player–coach relationship would rest on how Mouratoglou responded to that invitation. His analysis, which he shared with her, was that she was repeatedly off-balance when hitting the ball, her movement awkward, stilted and uneven, caused by stress, he believed.

‘I watched your match against Razzano.

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