Serena Williams' Ex-Coach Explains Why Her Controversial 2018 US Open Final Was 'Good For Sport'

Monday, 16 September 2024 at 02:30

byZachary Wimer

Patrick Mouratoglou will start working with Naomi Osaka, and ahead of that, he revisited the 2018 US Open final, in which he coached Serena Williams to a loss to Osaka.

That match will forever remain one of the most infamous in tennis history due to how it happened. Carlos Ramos was the umpire in the final match of the 2018 US Open, in which Williams clashed with the umpire on several issues after he gave her a warning for coaching.

Williams took that personally, wanting to explain herself, but it all spiraled from there. After that, she received a point and game penalty, essentially losing the match, not physically, but emotionally, even though she was losing to Osaka anyway.

Mouratoglou was obviously part of it, as his gesticulation to Williams sparked the whole situation, and he visited that ahead of his new coaching endeavor with Osaka.

The new coaching team-up is a fascinating turn of events for the French coach, and it's even better that he revisited when he stood in the opposite corner in a talk with Nick Kyrgios on his Good Trouble with Nick Kyrgios podcast.

As expected, Mouratoglou doesn't enjoy the memory of that day because there was very little positive in it.

"It was a terrible day for us because of all the drama around the US Open final. It was a bad day, a bittersweet day for Naomi (Osaka) because her first Grand Slam, but there was such a drama."

"So I think it was not an ideal first Grand Slam for Naomi. For us, it was really painful and we had a lot of bad press."

The situation created a lot of drama in tennis circles as it split the fanbases. Some took the side of Serena Willimas, while others heavily defended Carlos Ramos, who made the calls as the umpire.

Even today, his name leaves a lot of Americans frustrated because they think he was being too harsh to the legend of the sport. It's been well established since then that he acted pretty in line with the rules and that it wasn't the best moment for Williams, who will have to wear it for the rest of her life.

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In Mouratoglous's mind, the fiasco did have some positives, and it made tennis mainstream for a while. As unfortunate as it is, it's not the sport that occupies the media space often, and in light of that controversy, it did.

It also helped change the rules on coaching, which Mouratoglou firmly believes will help the sport long-term.

"But I think it was a good thing for two reasons. First of all, the drama was so big because it was a Grand Slam final and it was Serena. All the media all around the world, even media that weren't sports media, were talking about tennis. So, for tennis it was a great day, and I think we need drama to just draw more attention to the game."

"Second, I think it participated into the discussion to change the rule. I think the rule had to change because, maybe you were not using it, but most of the players were getting so much coached in every single match."