Patrick Mouratoglou exclusive: Serena Williams' coach not worried about form ahead of French Open

Serena Williams' coach Patrick Mouratoglou is not concerned about her form ahead of the 2021 French Open, adding that the women's game is still all about the 23-time Grand Slam champion.

Williams' preparations for Roland Garros have not gone quite according to script with the American suffering defeat to Nadia Podoroska in her first match at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome last week before another early exit at the hands of Katerina Siniakova at the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma.

The former world No 1, who has not claimed a major title since winning the Australian Open in 2017, is still chasing an elusive 24th major to equal Margaret Court's all-time record.

Mouratoglou claims he is not too worried that her preparations for Roland Garros, which starts in less than 10 days time, have not gone according to plan.

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"I think she lost because she was not ready," he told Sky Sports. "I don't know, but maybe it was not a good idea to go and play in Parma after losing in Rome because her match in Rome showed a lot of things that still needed to be worked on to be able to compete at the highest level.

"I think it's always interesting to play matches because it gives you a clear vision of where you are, so that was good in that way because we know what she still needs to accomplish in order to be ready for Roland Garros.

"I'm not worried in general because if she does the job she will be ready. It's just about doing the job."

"I've always said regarding Serena that it's all about her and it's still all about her."

Frenchman Mouratoglou, who has worked with Williams since 2012, points to this year's Australian Open as a prime example of how she has been able to play herself into form during a Slam.

Williams went on to lose to eventual champion, Naomi Osaka, in the semi-finals.

He said: "We have to go on the court, work, and day after day I will see. To be completely honest with you when I saw her before the Australian Open for preparation, I thought 'wow' - a lot of work to get ready. But in a short period of time she was able to really hit great form. She played really well, but unfortunately not through the whole tournament - until the semi-finals.

"She played great tennis, moving well, and it didn't taker her too much time to get ready."

Mouratoglou, who was speaking from his Academy ahead of this year's Ultimate Tennis Showdown 4, remains unconcerned by the strength in depth of women's tennis right now.

Four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka, world No 1 Ashleigh Barty, French Open champion Iga Swiatek and the likes of Sofia Kenin, Aryna Sabalenka, Bianca Andreescu and Coco Gauff are the embodiment of the modern game, while Williams approaches her 40th birthday.

"I'm never scared of the others and I'm not going to start now," Mouratoglou said. "I respect a lot of the other players who are definitely good and there is a lot of depth in the women's game.

"I've always said regarding Serena that it's all about her and it's still all about her.

"The question is, is she able or not to start the Grand Slams being in her top form and able to win? In Australian she was I think 100 per cent ready, really ready to win, but it didn't happen. We'll see how she is in the next couple of tournaments.

"When she gets to the latter stages, the semi-finals and the final, how does she handle the situation and is she able to play her best tennis? The last year she has not been able to play her best in the latter stages."

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Francesca Schiavone offered her thoughts on whether Williams can claim that elusive 24th Slam at Roland Garros. Asked whether Serena can do it, she said 'no' but every time she says 'no', something happens.

"That's a good summary of the career of Serena," Mouratoglou added. "First of all, when people tell her 'she can't', it gives her extra motivation, so please tell Francesca Schiavone to say it louder so I can make sure Serena can hear it!

"Secondly, she's been able to do things in her career that were in theory not possible because she has this belief that she can achieve anything and that's such a big strength."

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