Patrick Mouratoglou is at the centre of another storm, this time from irate tennis fans who criticized him for taking all the plaudits for Coco Gauff's stunning US Open triumph.
Gauff captured her first Grand Slam title a week ago at her home Slam, beating the newly-minted World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets. She became the first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams, more than two decades ago.
Mouratoflou hopped over to X in the aftermath of that victory and penned a lengthy post of his immediate reaction, congratulating Gauff and delving into their very first encounter almost 10 years ago at his tennis academy. But it was the Frenchman's recent interview with CNN at the weekend that riled up tennis fans.
Firstly, CNN were put on the spot, linking Gauff's success to the renounced French coach, labeling the young phenom as Mouratoglour's 'newest star', attributing the fact that Gauff spent her preteen years at the famous Mouratoglou Academy in France.
Moreover, Mouratoglou was a stop-gap replacement for Diego Moyano as Gauff's unofficial coach - at the behest of the 19-year-old. The Frenchman worked with Gauff at Roland Garros where her campaign ended with a quarterfinal defeat to eventual champion Iga Swiatek.
Tennis fans were highly critical of the tagline in use and hit out at Mouratoglou for taking the all praise and credit. The 53-year-old coach's track record of working with a number of highly successful players speaks for itself, but in this case, annoyed fans made their disapproval clear.
One fan condemned CNN for actually buying into the narrative of the 'newest star' and called for them to delete the interview. Another reiterated, 'Why is he getting credit for Coco’s win? He is not her coach and never was.' A user hilariously pointed out that it was meant to be an April Fool's joke, but CNN were six months late.
Another fan argued that it was factually incorrect for the media to gloat about Mouratoglous's influence saying, 'Her latest results are not because of Patrick. And she did not start playing tennis under him either. Everything in between was him and Coco's father. To say Coco is "his" latest star I'm not sure that is correct.'
Another reaction highlighted that Mouratgolou was trying to negate her current situation of being involved in Simona Halep's doping saga. The user tweeted, 'Patrick, finding his way to deflect the current situation and doing his best as always making everything about him.'
One fan wrote, 'I’m literally laughing because Coco is more responsible for Patrick’s fame & success than the other way round. Trust me, Gauff would still be a Grand Slam champion without having met a man named Patrick Mouratoglou.'
0 Comments