Patrick Mouratoglou recently revealed a funny story about how he misled Serena Williams, helping her win Wimbledon.
The partnership between the legendary American and the French coach is one of the most iconic tennis partnerships in history. Many people probably forget that Williams won 10 Grand Slam trophies under Mouratoglou from 2012 onward.
They worked perfectly together as he helped her return to number one and further cement her legacy as the greatest female tennis player of all time. The tactics he used to help her were sometimes quite strange, but they worked.
He recalled one of those when explaining how he deliberately lied to her during a Wimbledon Championships she won. As Mouratoglou explained, she was unwilling to play volleys, which he felt would severely limit her. He then lied to her about the stats behind her volleying, which convinced her to keep doing it, and it worked.
"Serena, I don't remember which year she played at Wimbledon and she was missing all the volleys at the start of the tournament. And because she was missing at the net, she was scared to move inside the court. And I mean it's automatic, when you miss at the net and you are not fast enough to take it and hit a winner. And I thought well, if she continues to play like this, we are in trouble."
"So after the match, I remember she was biking and we always talk after the match. And I said to her, When I see a short ball, I am so comfortable, I can sleep on my two ears.' 'Why do you say that?' (she asked). I said, 'Because you win 80% of the points at the net,' which was not true."
It worked like a charm because Williams would go up to the net with confidence, and she won many points and the event. It was a good thing that she didn't check the stats herself, right?
"'I thought I was terrible at the net,' that's what she told me. 'I was terrible.' She started to play without any fear forward. Because believed it she started to be really efficient. And she won 80% of the points at the net until the end of the of the tournament and she won Wimbledon. This thing that was not true happened to be true."
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