Immediately after Serena Williams collected her 17th Grand Slam title with a 6-4, 6(8)-7, 6-1 victory over Victoria Azarenka in the women’s final of the US Open, a small group of reporters including IT spoke with him about Serena’s amazing recent success and what makes her a champion:
QUESTION: Patrick, can you explain Serena’s mental toughness, after what she went through in the second set?
PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: It’s not only her. After she got broke, maybe she got a little bit tight and maybe she slowed down a bit without knowing it, but it’s also [Victoria] Azarenka’s ability to fight incredibly well. She found the momentum from the fact that Serena was playing a bit slower, to accelerate and become the boss of the rallies. It completely changed the match.
In the third set, Serena really found a way to calm down, completely erase what happened, and start over from zero, and again she was the master in all the rallies.
Q: Is it amazing to you that she was able to press the reset button?
PM: She’s Serena.
Q: What is her X factor, what is that special quality makes her Serena?
PM: She has many qualities, I wouldn’t say there’s just one. First of all, in her game, she has qualities that are above everyone—the serve, and this ability to accelerate the rally at any time on any shot. She has this rage inside that she can put on the court and be so tough for her competitors [to face]. She also has this ability to find the solutions on court. When she’s in trouble, she finds something inside to change the momentum.
Q: When she lost that cat-and-mouse volley exchange, she seemed angered by losing that point. Do you think in a way that stimulated her and got her going?
PM: She uses [that anger]. Also, in the first set when she was down 4-5 and 30-all on her serve, suddenly you could see that she clicked, she realized that she was not aggressive enough, she was letting Vika dictate too much. She completely changed. And then in the third set, she scored six games to Vika’s one.
This is also her—sometimes when she clicks, she is able to [rise above] whoever’s on the other side of the court.
Q: Do you feel like your strategy for the match has been validated?
PM: Today, I’m happy. I could be here trying to explain that my strategy was the right one. But today, the good thing is that she found a way so that you don’t have to ask that question to me.
Q: What about her sustained excellence, from 17 to 31 years old? We haven’t seen a player do that in a while. Why do you think that is?
PM: I don’t know her long enough to talk about what happened before, but I’ve tried to give good explanations for her motivation, and because she has it, she became a better player—a more intense player, a tougher opponent. You have to realize one thing that she didn’t do last year—this year, every time she steps on the court, she’s the favorite. Every time. She’s played so many matches with that on her back. She found a way to win the match today, and she’s lost only 4 matches this year, with unbelievable expectations on her shoulders. That’s a big difference, even today, between Vika and her. She had all the pressure on her shoulders, and she made it [to victory].
Q: That pressure comes out when she’s serving for matches. It happened in Cincinnati, and she got broken while serving for the match twice today. What makes those hiccoughs happen? Is it the pressure?
PM: Sure. She’s human, so when she got closer to the win, maybe she got a bit more tight. She was not as incisive, and Azarenka is such an unbelievable fighter that she could use that to dictate, and the match completely switched.
But in the third set, Serena found a way to calm down, and you could see that she started to play a bit slower, and come back to the start with a fresh mind. Every time she finds a way to calm down, she finds solutions. This is something that she really has, and I haven’t seen that in many other players.
Q: She’s now one major behind Chrissie and Martina, how important is that to her?
PM: I don’t think she thought about it before because it was too early to think about it. Now she’s gotten close to those two players, it’s true. But I think she’s doing it more for herself than for breaking records. She’s so happy every time she wins a new grand slam—every time it’s a new story, a new achievement, and believe me, every time she steps on court with that pressure on her shoulders, it’s an achievement to be a winner at the end. Also, her reaction is really a champion’s reaction, because most players, when they have pressure, they take it the wrong way. Most try to take the exit. She didn’t. She just worked harder, and worked every point on every match, which is something she never did in the past. It shows she can still do some new things. She can still surprise everyone, and she can still improve a lot.
Q: Can you see her still winning majors for the next two or three years?
PM: I don’t see any reason why she wouldn’t.
Q: Where do you think that fire or inner motivation that she has comes from, Patrick?
PM: You never know where it comes from—she’s a champion. It’s difficult to explain what’s in the mind of a champion. She feels she can [do it]. She feels she’s the best—not in a bad way, but because it’s true. This self-confidence in her game gives her the will to prove it every day on the court. She does everything to prove it to herself.
Q: There was one changeover where she walked so slowly, so deliberately. What went through your mind then, when she was clearly reflecting on her situation?
PM: I love it when she’s slowing down and thinking and trying to be calm. Every time she does it, something good happens, because she sees the game, she sees what she does right or wrong, and she finds a new solution. That is something that’s hard to teach to someone.
But she’s always had this ability to find solutions and win. It’s not something new. There are some things that are new in her game, but this ability she’s always had.
Q: Going back to the hunger side, it’s amazing that she’s been winning Grand Slams for 14 years. That’s an incredible span—most players would probably have given up. Why is she still coming back?
PM: You said it, she’s not most other players, she’s Serena Williams. There is only one.
Q: You were saying earlier that she’s a little bit more meticulous and consistent. How have the two of you as a team gotten to that point?
PM: I’ve said many times that she wants to improve. She’s very open to adding new things. When she understands something and knows that it’s right, she’s prepared to do anything better. It’s not difficult, because she wants to be better. She’s always open. That’s also one of the secrets to why she’s still winning Grand Slams after 14 years—this will to get better every moment.
Q: Can you talk about a couple of the new things she’s improved upon this year?
PM: I don’t like to talk too much about that, because it’s better if I keep it between her and myself, but definitely the fact that she’s much more consistent. I think she’s scored 25 6-0 sets since January. I don’t know what her former record [in a year] was, but I think [it was] less than 10. It shows how intense she gets, and it’s definitely the right strategy, because the best players in the world are always the most intense. Look at Nadal. Even the ones who are not that gifted at the start, like maybe David Ferrer, if you look at his career, he’s always so intense and so focused. That’s the right strategy, there is no doubt about it.
Q: She obviously has other interests, but do you get the sense that she know feels, “This is what I do great, I’m a great tennis player, this is how I can express myself”?
PM: You are right. At certain periods she wanted to do many other things, she was curious. We’re not in their lives, those tennis players who gave everything to tennis for 20 years and have a lot of success—they probably need to see something different, because there’s [more to] life, life is not tennis. I can understand that. But maybe now she realizes how exceptional she is. It makes sense for her to come back to tennis and achieve the very best she can. Then she has all the rest of her life to do something else.
Q: If someone said to you when you began working with her after her first-round loss at the French, “Hey, don’t worry, you’re going to have around 110 wins in 14 months,” what would your thoughts be?
PM: I’m not that surprised, because I think she deserves what is happening. First, because she is such an unbelievable champion, and second, because she did everything to have it. In a way, for me, this is the year she deserves.
Q: Is she the best of all time, in your mind?
PM: Of course, in my mind, she is. She would be even if she didn’t win tonight. But history will tell.
