1. Jacket Boggi Milano
Pullover Eric
Bompard
Patrick
Mouratoglou
PhotographerJérémy Dubois
Stylist Margaux
Sirejacob Creative Director Kurtiss
Valentino Grooming/Hair Bruno
Segni
We recently hadthe honorof an exclusive interview
with Patrick Mouratoglou, the famed tennis coach
of the World’s №1 tennis player– Serena Williams.
Patrick is the founder and executive talent of the
renowned French MouratoglouTennis Academy,
founded in 1996. He is a best-selling author,
Eurosport com-
mentator, philanthropist anddriving force
behindthe newly launched, Champ’Seed
Foundation.
Patrick has a reputation forquality coaching.
He takes all the timeheneeds to get to know
his
players, howto best analyze theirgame and
per- sonality, forthe purpose of earning their
trust.
He considers RichardWilliams,
Serena’s father,as oneof his personal
coaching inspi-
What do you mean by “educating
to win?”
What I call being a winner, is the
capacity to reach one’s goals in life. We
all have dreams but only a few of us
have the ability to make them come true.
In
sport,those people are called Champions.
They are driven, believe in themselves, and
develop a behavior that makes them in a
constant state ofnon-satisfaction,so that
they constantly strive for new goals.
The difference between a top player and a
Champion is this special frame of mind. In
my book, Educate to Win, I explain that one
can carry this attitude in life, as Champions
who have been raised by parents who have trans-
mitted that. There is no recipe for happiness, but
if we can teach our children to dream and then
reach their goals, they start in life with a special
gift. My first book is about how to teach our chil-
dren to believe in their capacity to reach their
goals
rations. Patrick has coachedsuch
notable tennis stars as: Marcos
Baghdatis, Anas- tasia
Pavlyuchenkova, Jeremy Chardy,
Aravane Rezai andGrigor Dimitrov.
How was Patrick able to be so
gener- ous with his time and
speak with
us?He employs the concept of maxi-
mum efficiency.
and to travel though life with this mindset.
What is the title of your new book and when will it
be available to the public?
My new book is entitled, The Coach. When my editor
came to me with the idea to make my autobiography,I
thought that it was too early,as I consider myself only half
way in my life. Then she explained to me that my journey
was interesting.Howdid I achieve the dreams I had since an
early age with such a difficult start in life? She told me that I
could give keys for success through my personalstory.Then I
thought that telling my story was an opportunity to talk about
coaching,which has become a trendy word,but I think that
most ofthe people don’t exactly know what it really means.By
telling my coaching collaborations and stories,Ican explain how
I think,plan,and drive people to success.Ialso tell how my
mistakes and failures have been useful, as they showed me the
right way to finally get the results Iwanted.What we are currently
achieving
with Serena is so exciting and motivating! She is becoming,though
her achievements, the best playerof all time and I believe that it is
important to tell our story.How it started,how we interact, how we
build ourprofessionalrelationship and make it so successful.
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Behind every great champion is a thinker who is able to plan
strategies, anticipate difficulties, and provide alternate solutions. Is
this why they call you “The Mastermind?”
I am lucky to work with people who have a great talent. I wish I had so
much of it! My job is to help them maximize it, to help them develop
it. I believe that the biggest talent in the world can’t pop out by itself.
We all need a team around us. It is a team effort. Players are in the
action, while coaches are into strategy,planning, convincing. It is the
quality of that duet that can provide great results.
When I started working with Serena, she was going through a
tough moment in hercareer.She had been a Champion already,
refuse it, fight and always
look for solutions to win. Ser-
ena is one of the best examples
of that frame of mind. Theidea
but Ithought she could achieve much more.That is also what she
wanted and she was prepared to pay the price for it. As she asked
me to team up with her,I made a plan that we went through to
bring her backto the Top and become even betterthan ever.
In two and a half years that we are working together,she has
won 29 titles, six Grand Slams, and has come back to No.
1 in the world for the 116th consecutive week (and still
counting), by far her longest series ever.
I’ve been called “The Mastermind” thanks to her
achievements.
of losing is not acceptable for
her, so she digs deep in order to
find the strength to fight and win
in almost every situation.
I believe that what makes people
give up when they go through a
tough time is the lack of confidence in
themselves. They accept to lose be-
cause they form the idea of conceiving
it. More than that,the thought oflosing
during a match makes them go though a
You have said that your current protégé,
Serena Williams, refuses to lose, she always
figures out a way to win. How do you
encourage players to develop such a strong
will?
Every tennis match is different and there are
many opportunities to let the frustration get to
your brain. For professionals,many parameters
change at every match they play throughout
the year.Different opponents with different
strokes,strategies, behaviors,different balls,
wind, sun,chair, umpire…. When things
get difficult, and a player starts to be in
trouble, he faces two options: fight or es-
cape. Most of them complain and accept
too easily the idea to lose. Champions
mental state that makes them inefficient. I
need to “re-program” them to think differ-
ently in that special situation.
What is your secret for coping with ever
in- creasing levels of stress?
I have no secret for coping with stress. We all
need stress,but it has to stay at a level that make
us productive and efficient. It is as bad to have too
much stress,as it is to not have enough of it. It just
needs to stay under control.
A lot of stress is a result offear,fearoffailing,fearofthe
unknown. I accept to fail. It is a part of life that will make
me grow. Every failure gives me accurate information
about how to succeed. Failure allows me to be able to
understand
what I did wrong and modify my strategy.Sometimes there
is a thin line between winning and losing, between failure and
success.Failure gives me that feedbackthat Ineed.It is always
ok to fail, because at the end,Iwillsucceed.
That is why my level of stress is always acceptable. I
know where I am going, and I also know that on my path,
there
will not only be success,but it will end well if I carry the right
attitude. Regarding the unknown, it does not provide too much
stress in me because I love to discovernew horizons. Everyone has
a different comfort zone. Mine is in the unknown, in doing new
things and in looking for solutions to reach what I want.
Do you believe in following established rules and procedures
for training?
I don’t believe in a method, but in methodology. Every single player has
different needs.What makes a coach successfulis the ability to analyze
those needs,prioritize them, and find the solutions to fulfill them. If I would
apply a method to all of my players I would have failed. BUT, I strongly
believe in procedures,because coaches also need a framework.
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When
I teach
coaches,I help
them prioritize
their actions,commu-
nicate with their player,get
the right information in order to be
able to plan the adapted actions.
A good coach is someone who has the
ability to adapt to every new situation. We
are solution makers. Every situation requires a
different solution and that is the reason why there are
no recipes, but a right way to address the problems.
In my tennis academy, all the coaches are taught to use
my methodology.
How do you get a player back on track after
defeat? Losing is a necessity … if it doesn’t happen
too of- ten. As I previously explained, a good failure
isfull
of lessons.I always take advantage of losses,because
sometimes it is the best way to help a player understand
what he needs to do in the future if he doesn’t want it to
happen again too often. If losing hurts the player,
sometimes it is a necessity.If, as a coach, I want him to
understand the lesson that life teaches him, sometimes
it has to hurt him. I always make sure that the loss will
act more as a motivator. I think that life is not so much

4. A ZZ A RE N K O 47
about
what
happens to
you, but more in
the way you receive it.
The same situationaffects
different people in different
ways. It can depress ormotivate.
What I care about is the way my player
will emotionally cope with defeat, and what it
will generate in him.
What is your secret for maximizing talent when
a player must face a more physically powerful
oppo- nent?
Every playerhas different skills. Poweris one of them.
If my playerdoesn’thave it,we might use more
strategy.It is important to understand his own skills and
develop them to maximize his potential.There is
always a solu- tion to win, and tennis is a sport in
which many factors are at stake,and that is what makes
it so interesting.
Techniques,tactics,the mental,and the physicalare
involved and have to be developed simultaneously.
How do you turn a junior champion into a pro?
There are so many things to master, develop and
understand for a junior player to maximize his po-
tential and become a very good pro! First of all, he
needs to carry the right attitude.The junior world is
very different from the professionalone. On the pro
tour, players are all fighting hard. It is much more
competitive. The rookies need to be focused, work-
ing hard and fight on every point. They need to build
their tactics, play a much more percentage tennis.
Our role as coaches is also to help them use their
strengths and develop them. The physical side is very
important. It is the time to build it, by doing preven-
tion, which means preparing the body for what it will
have to endure, but also having a development plan.
And mentally, I prepare them for being ambitious,
reinforce their fighting spirit, and get ready for big
challenges.
How do you train a junior champion to keep moti-
vation high?
The attitude of the coach is key to the player’s motiva-
tion. First, he needs to embody the values he wants
his player to get: be professional,be enthusiastic,hard
worker and never give up.
The coach has to be demanding because this is theway
to success.
It is essential that the coach carry a positive at-
titude, and shows, by his behavior, that he knows
the way. If the player feels that his coach believes
in him a lot, and is focused on his development, it
will help him keep motivation even when the times
are hard.
But more than that,the future Champion needs to
win.
This is the
most motivating
thing in the world. It is
essentialthat, even though he
is working on a long-term plan, he
also secure a short-term efficiency.
How do you maintain maximum efficiency?
This is a key point. The coach has to considerthat vic-
tories and defeats are his responsibility in order to take
the lessons given when every defeat happens.The
quality of the analysis of the reasons why he wins or
loses,will determine which actions have to be taken.
The main key is to simultaneously focus on the long and
the short term.
How do you assista player to keep from getting emo-
tional?
You can’t avoid emotion. It is part of sports and some-
times it can be something positive and can help you per-
form well. When the emotion becomes negative because
it alters the efficiency, I teach players to cope with it, and
get it under control.
What is the purpose of the new academy?
I started my academy almost 20 years ago, in 1996.
We’ve had great results with 3 Junior World Cham-
pions, 12 Junior Grand Slam finalists, more than
20 players in the top 100, some top 20, top 10, and
Grand Slam victories.
My methodology of coaching is demonstrated every
day on the courts, and more players want to be part of
it. I decided to move to the French Riviera because I
want to build the biggest Academy in Europe and ben-
efit the best place in France for that. We play outdoors
all year long thanks to fantastic weather conditions. We
are 15 minutes from the 2nd biggest airport in France
after Paris, and we are building a tool that will provide
the best possible conditions for players.
The cities around Sophia-Antipolis are Nice, Cannes and
Monte Carlo.
I am building these infrastructures to be the most modern
in Europe and provide everything a player might need.
We have a full year program with schooland tennis
every- day both for players who want to become
professionals and for those who want to enter in
American universi- ties with scholarships.Each year, we
send more than 50 players to those universities. We also
have a program for professional players and finally we
welcome more than 2,000 players per year for a week or
two of intense tennis.My Academy is open to anyone
who wants to play ten- nis, progress and enjoy
professional-level training.
What kind of innovative programs will your new
acad- emy provide?
What we provide at MouratoglouTennis Academy is my
4 6 AZZA R E N K O
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meth-
odology
that has been
used with top
players for20 years.
We also have two new
technologies that we decided
to get equippedwith.The first
one is called PlaySight.The principle
is to use video cameras on thecourt to
get all the data to get statistics on the ef-
ficiency of the shots ofthe players.
The second one is a medical center and a
recovery center to rationalize the recovery at
the end of every day using hot/cold bath and
all the new technologies recently
discovered.
When and where can young hopefuls try
out for your new academy?
Mouratoglou Tennis Academy is open all
year long. Players can come anytime for
a week trial.
Where and when is your Charity
Founda- tion being launched?
My foundation named Champ’Seed has
been launched at the end of 2014 underthe
aegis of the Foundation of Luxembourg.
The goal of the Foundation is to select the
best young potential future top players who
cannot afford to finance professional-level
training to reach their professional goal.
With the help of donors,Champ’Seed pro-
vides the environment necessary for them to
grow and fulfill their potential. Some gener-
ous donors already reached out and helped
the Foundation start the selection process.
On the 19th of May 2015, Champ’Seed will
host a big event and a Gala in Monte Carlo
with current or ex- top players such as
Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Marion
Bartoli, Iva Majoli, Jérémy Chardy, Thomas
Johansson,and celebrities like Eva Longo-
ria and Bob Sinclar. This Gala will be the
occasion to introduce the selection of play-
ers and find the resources to surround them
with a professional structure.
How do you balance being a high profile
coach, a Eurosport announcer,a community
leader,
a pub-
lished author,
and a successful
businessman?
I have a busy life but I like it. I
am lucky enough to work in my pas-
sion: Tennis, Coaching andPhilanthropy.
I also love to host my showon Eurosport
and write for my blogs or my books.I work
between 12 and sometimes 14 hours per day,
but, as I love what I am doing, I often don’t
feel like I am working.
What do you do to relax?
I don’t have so much time to relax, but life is
short and I am so passionate about it that I
am happy that way.I have three children and
I travel a lot for my work (around 35 weeks
per year) so I spend more time with them
when I’m back home.
I also love music. I am a fan of jazz and soul
music, and spending time with friends is also
something I enjoy but don’t have a lot of time
to do.
By Pamela Perry
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