Patrick Mouratoglou, the coach of Serena Williams, says the tennis star’s previous meltdowns are great for the game.
Serena has displayed emotional outbursts in two different US Open competitions, which made the headlines.
Over a decade ago, she was involved in an infamous episode when she abused a lineswoman over a foot-fault.
The former world champion ignited another meltdown two years ago when she faced Naomi Osaka in the US Open final.
Enduring a tough run against the Japanese phenom, Serena took aim at the chair umpire Carlos Ramos.
After being sanctioned by Ramos for receiving coaching signals from her box, an emotional Serena smashed her racquet, cried and called the umpire ‘thief.’
Many months after that meltdown, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, has leapt to his player’s defence.
According to him, while such things are bad for Serena and her team, it’s the exact opposite for the game of tennis.
“Every morning we have a meeting of everyone involved. I came into the room and they were all there. There was silence because everyone was feeling uncomfortable. I stood up and I said ‘listen, guys, yesterday was the worst day ever for Team Serena because she lost and because of what happened,” said Mouratoglou to the Daily Mail.
“But it was the best day for tennis because tennis is everywhere, it’s great for tennis. So it depends on how you look at it’. People watch sports like they watch a movie, they want to feel emotion.”
Meanwhile, Serena was handed a fine of US $17,000 for her meltdowns.
