Becoming a professional tennis player without natural talent is impossible, but Naomi Osaka's coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, does not believe it is the most critical factor.
Mouratoglou is one of the best-known coaches worldwide. He worked with Serena Williams for almost ten years and enjoyed considerable success during her time with the legendary American.
Williams had not won a Grand Slam in two years before the French coach joined her team. But she dominated the sport for the first six years of their partnership, from 2012 to 2018, winning several of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles.
However, Mouratoglou has become quite a controversial figure in the sport. He began working alongside Simona Halep after splitting with Williams, which ended in one of the most-publicized tennis stories in recent years.
Halep was banned for four years for taking a banned substance, although it was reduced to nine months upon appeal. Mouratoglou and his team gave her the collagen containing the illegal substance.
Some felt Mouratoglou should not be allowed to work with another player after that catastrophic lack of judgment, but he was allowed to continue his coaching career with Holger Rune, splitting for a third and final time earlier this year.
Osaka surprised many by hiring Mouratoglou as her coach after splitting with Wim Fissette for the second time. Their partnership began immediately, and the Frenchman is with her at the China Open.
The four-time Grand Slam champion won her second consecutive match at the China Open by staging a comeback against Yulia Putintseva, the first time she had recovered from a set down since returning to the sport this year.
Despite admitting she initially wanted to avoid Mouratoglou because he used to coach Williams, their relationship seems to be off to a positive start, although it is too early to be certain they will be successful.
Mouratoglou gave some insight into his coaching outlook in comments on Instagram, saying he told Rune during their time together that he does not think talent is a trait shared by all the top players.
"I played this little game with Holger. I told him if I name Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, (Carlos) Alcaraz, (Jannik) Sinner, give me five things that they have in common. I don't think talent it one of things. I'm not saying they don't talent, I'm just saying that's a minor quality compared to all the other ones."
Williams' former coach thinks being talented can lead to players developing bad habits, such as not doing the extremely hard work necessary for players to reach the top of the sport.
"It gives bad habits to people to be talented, because the truth is, again, to be great at something, you'll have to put enormous effort. If you learn to work extremely hard because you have no other option, this attitude you will carry in everything you do,"
Mouratoglou's perspective is interesting since Williams is widely considered the most talented women's player ever. The work she did off the court to be successful is probably underrated.
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