LONDON, 7 Apr. (PA Mean/dpa/EP) –
Romanian tennis player and former world number one Simona Halep will now work under the baton of French coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ coach for the last 10 years.
Mouratoglou said in a statement posted on social media that he accepted Halep’s offer after asking Williams and receiving her approval. The American tennis player is currently out of competition due to injury.
The Frenchman, who has been the coach of players such as Stefanos Tsitsipas and Coco Gauff, will start with the Romanian tennis player in the clay court season, to prepare for the Mutua Madrid Open that will start in May.
“Over the last eight months I’ve realized how much I’ve missed training. It’s my life’s passion and I still feel like I have a lot to give. Simona came to Mouratoglou Academy before Indian Wells for a training block and I watched her train At the end of the week, she asked me if I was available to train her. I have the utmost respect for her, but it was out of the question at the time.”
Mouratoglou spoke to Serena Williams “weeks later” about the possibility of coaching Halep, and the American “opened the door” for him to work with another player “at least in the short term”.
Halep, the current world number 20 and the 2019 Wimbledon champion, announced her separation from coach Darren Cahill in September last year.