Patrick Mouratoglou admits to ‘fighting with’ Serena Williams over the tennis legend’s weight

Patrick Mouratoglou has admitted to ‘having a few fights’ with Serena Williams over her weight during their collaboration as coach and player.

The American, who retired in 2022, has recently made headlines for admitting to using GLP-1 – a group of weight loss medications – to help her lose 14 kilograms in eight months.

Williams did so in order to ‘try something different’, having stated that she saw her weight as another ‘opponent’, combining the medication with ‘training five hours a day’ and ‘running, walking, biking, stair climbing.’

Mouratoglou joined forces with the 23-time Grand Slam champion as head coach in 2012 and continued that role for the remainder of the American’s career.

“Oh, I remember it very well,” remarked the Frenchman to The Guardian, after being reminded of a story in which he was said to have argued her weight was negatively affecting her game.

“It was after the pregnancy – not right after; I know these things take time. I told her: ‘Listen, this is not a comment on how you look. It’s not my problem.’

“But tennis is a sport in which you can’t afford to be overweight. First of all, the pressure on your joints and everything is so big that your chances become much higher.

“The second thing is it’s a sport in which you change directions all the time and with a lot of speed. Even one kilo overweight is a lot.

“When you go full speed in one direction with one kilo extra and then need to stop and come back, the time that you lose is really important. Just look at the best players in the world – Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic. Think about their movement.

“The weight was affecting her movement.

“In Serena’s case, she was older – so of course the body is not going to bounce back the same as before, and the risk of injury is even bigger.

“We had a few fights about it. I remember she did not like when I said that because she thought I was judging her. But I kept telling her, I don’t care about your look. It’s not my job.

“My job is your tennis. If you want to come back to the top and make history, then we have to be very efficient on every level – including this one, which for me was the key element.”

Latest Tennis News

Emma Raducanu’s ex-coach reveals area where star will have to ‘keep getting better’

Holger Rune makes ‘consistency’ admission as he fires Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner warning

Since Williams retired, Mouratoglou joined forces with Dane Holger Rune from mid-2022 for 24 months – in an on-and-off relationship – and, more recently, worked as the main coach of Naomi Osaka from September 2024 until July 2025.

Over her career, the American collected 23 Grand Slam singles titles and 14 such doubles titles, four Olympic gold medals, and 73 singles trophies overall.

The Frenchman went on to add: “I’m not the type of guy who’s looking back and having regrets. But, yeah, if she would have been in this position physically, the results would have been better.”

The post Patrick Mouratoglou admits to ‘fighting with’ Serena Williams over the tennis legend’s weight appeared first on Tennis365.