By sportswriter Su Bin
PARIS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of 23-time Grand Slam singles title winner Serena Williams, thought that China is a big country for sports while being a newcomer for tennis.
"The big thing for the moment is to learn from people who have a lot of experience in tennis and get to play with a lot of different players with different styles and qualities," the Frenchman told Chinese media here on Sunday.
CHINESE PLAYERS NEED TO GO OUTSIDE
Mouratoglou, 47, founded his tennis academy in 1996 near Paris, before relocating it to the outskirts of Nice two decades later.
For him, Chinese youngsters are hard-workers, but need to leave China for learning experience from different players.
"In general, the good thing is that Chinese players are hard-workers," Mouratoglou said. "They have to leave China."
"Asian players play all the same kind of tennis, and there is not enough variety. They are not used to playing with European and American players, who play really different tennis from Asian players.
"It's important when you see all different situations, get used to that and learn to find solutions against different players. If you always stay to play with people playing the same kind of tennis, you don't make the progress that you have to make," he pointed out.
Mouratoglou thought that Chinese players' technique is limiting their way rather than the technique itself.
"There is just one way, and they don't have many options in the game. In modern games, it's so important," he said.
"China is a big country for sports, but doesn't have experience for tennis.
"It's a new sport for Chinese people, so it's important to learn from people with a lot of experience. Maybe 10, 20 or 30 years later, Chinese people will know tennis as well as people in Europe.
"For some sports, China is the best. If my son does this sport, I will send him to China to learn. It's simple," he added.
WILLIAMS IS A NATURAL COMPETITOR
Mouratoglou has been Williams' coach since 2012. For him, the 36-year-old American legend is "a natural competitor".
"A lot of things (make her a great champion), but if I have to name one, it's the way that she thinks. She thinks like a champion.
"Her level of expectations is here. In practice, she refuses to go under. In match, she refuses to lose. She's an incredible fighter and competitor. She is different from anyone on many levels, but because she thinks like a champion," he pointed out.
Williams positioned herself against Russia's Maria Sharapova in the fourth round at Roland Garros.
The duo combined 28 Grand Slam titles. Their head-to-head this time will undoubtedly draw more attention, as it was the first Grand Slam tournament that Williams featured since giving birth to a daughter, while Sharapova made her return to Roland Garros following two-year absence.
"It's an important match for both of them to see where they are in terms of level. It's gonna be a nice match in terms of level because both are playing good tennis.
"As for their head-to-heads, Serena won the last 18, but on the other hand, Serena are just restarting to play, that's the first (Grand Slam) tournament that she plays since she had a baby.
"Sharapova is in a very good shape, but Serena is a better player," Mouratoglou showed his full confidence.
"On paper, Sharapova is in a better shape than Serena. She has won many more matches. Serena is nothing, she played three matches.
"Every time she plays against Sharapova, she was the super, super favorite because she was the world number one and won many Grand Slam titles, beating Sharapova many times, but this time is different. This is true," Mouratoglou pointed out.
As for pre-tournament preparation, Mouratoglou was satisfied to see that he and Williams made a right choice to skip clay season warm-up tournaments and take intensive training to better prepare for Roland Garros.
"After we did the first two practices, I told her that she was not ready. There were two options, the first was to play the tournament and probably not win them, and going to Roland Garros unprepared, or skip these two tournaments and do five-week really intensive to have a chance of being ready for Roland Garros.
"She will show in Roland Garros without any match, which is not great, but I prefer Serena ready with no match than not ready with a few matches.
"The way that she worked in these five weeks was unbelievable. She worked really hard. We did a plan for her to get her back in shape, get her body and tennis ready. It was pretty intense, but she did incredibly well.
"I was impressed by the quality and intensity she had for these five weeks. I knew she would be ready for Roland Garros, except that she didn't have enough competitions behind her. On the other hand, Serena is a natural competitor, so she should find a way.
"She is not 100 percent moving, but moves well enough to win. I cannot do a miracle, we only had five weeks. We took the best of what we could take for these five weeks," said Mouratoglou.
Mouratoglou thought that Williams' form improved match after match in Paris.
"The first match was tough, it's difficult to get to her rhythm. The second match she felt incredibly soar after the first match, because she could not compete for so long, but the level was really good. Yesterday she had a really good match.
"Maybe she doesn't move as well as she can, but she compensated that by serving good and being super aggressive and dictating," he said.
BASICS CAN BRING PLAYERS REALLY HIGH
The Mouratoglou Tennis Academy has fostered many players from talented youngsters to setting themselves currently in professional circuit, to name a few, Ivo Karlovic, Marcos Baghdatis and Gilles Muller, with 19-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas, former junior world number one, as the latest product.
Specifically speaking of Tsitsipas, Mouratoglou thought that the Greek youngster is on his way to be top of the game.
"First he is a good competitor, and has made a lot of progress," said Mouratoglou.
"Tennis is very much about understanding how you can use your weapons and your game to win. It's about how should I play, what is my technical way to play good, and how can I use my strength so that I can control win the game," he commented.
"He has a very good backhand. We worked a lot on turning around his backhand to use his forehand. When you do that, you control the game and have many intentional plays, otherwise you can be passive. When you turn around your backhand and control the game with your forehand, you are active.
"We prevented him from injuries by doing really hard work on his physical weakness to make him stronger. We did a lot of things, it's very complex, and it's a combination of everything.
"The technique is important, because it helps you achieve what you want to achieve on the court. He is already there and can still improve a lot.
"It's important to develop the tools of the young. The goal is not limited, and there is a lot to improve, but the basics are strong, and the basics can bring you really high," Mouratoglou said.
