The former coach of legends such as Serena Williams, Patrick Mouratoglou, heavily praised his former protégé Coco Gauff after her recent US Open win.
The French coach knows Gauff very well as he helped her throughout her career, most recently at Roland Garros. Gauff was part of his Academy for a while as well, perfecting her craft that would ultimately see her win the US Open.
It was a proud moment for Mouratoglou who always believed in her but even he was surprised by how quickly things turned around. He was in her box in Paris watching her play quite nervously, which isn't the case any more.
The difference that I see in the Coco of before and the Coco of today is that she is mentally more calm. She matured so much in the last two months. I have seen some big changes in her attitude on the court and the attitude is just the consequence of how you feel inside.
The US Open run didn't surprise Mouratoglou that much considering how she was trending in recent weeks, but some things were key for it. In his mind, the win over Caroline Wozniacki was particularly important for the whole run.
She had one match very key for me was the one against Caroline Wozniacki when she lost the second and was one down in the third. And I could see because I know her very well. I think it was obvious, the panic taking her completely.
And from one point to the other literally, she started to play unbelievable. She refused to lose. And if you look at the scenario of that final, same she didn't panic, and that makes such a difference. She wasn't able to do that a year ago; now, she is.
Gauff herself talked about never losing any belief in herself and truly that's what happened on the court. She never looked rattled at all which was impressive to see.
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