“Serena Williams Wins Australian Open With Coughs, Guts and Aces” was a famous headline ran by New York Times, nearly a decade ago, when the former World No.1 battled an elongated illness and dominated the Melbourne Major. Defying all odds, aged 33, the American legend fought through physical limitations and lifted her 19th slam. She beat Maria Sharapova in the final, with a score line of 6-3, 7-6 (5). While there have been other No.1s in the racket sport, such determination is what makes Williams truly incomparable. And that’s exactly what her former coach Patrick Mouratoglou also believes.
In an interaction with actor Rainn Wilson, dated April 10, on his Soul Boom podcast, Mouratoglou spilled the beans on Serena’s mindset and what made her distinguished from other top WTA stars. According to him, it was her sheer mentality that made her stand in a league of her own. “She thinks she can do anything. And she’s right. And I can tell you if she tells you this chair is white and you see it red, you think ‘But no, it’s red’. And she’s going to make this chair be white. I can tell you because she sees it white and she’s done that.” To make it crystal clear, he went down the memory lane to present examples of his time with Serena after joining her team in 2012.
Citing first instance, he said, “She told me ‘Oh I don’t understand how I lost this Australian Open’. I don’t know which year. I said, ‘But you broke your ligaments of the leg.’” To this, Williams told him, “And? I should have won on one leg.” Mouratoglou emphasized that “She believed it. When she had a baby she said, when she was pregnant and she knew she would have the baby in September, she calls me and she says ‘Please find a hidden partner for September.’ I said ‘But September you’re giving birth.’” But her response was, ‘And?’ Mouratoglou tried to convince her saying, ‘But you’re not going to practice right after you give (birth)’. To this she said, ‘And?’ as if it meant nothing.
Recalling another incident, he spoke about the time from her campaign at the “Roland Garros 2015”. He revealed that “the whole tournament” she had “40 degrees fever I mean Celsius. Sorry I don’t know in Fahrenheit, but it’s the maximum you can have.” And what was her condition like? He added, “So she couldn’t leave the bed for the whole French Open. She stayed in bed. You have no idea she couldn’t even walk. She couldn’t walk. A few times I told her ‘Let’s go outside and walk at least for a few minutes. You cannot stay in bed all day.’ Couldn’t move. We did zero practice, zero warm up before matches. So she was going straight from the bed to the stadium to play the match. She lost every first set because she was dead. But then the rage, the refusal to lose came in and she won.”
He also threw light on how he got to know about her dire situation post-matches during the campaign. Apparently, other female players, who saw her afterwards in the locker room, told him she used to lay down “for at least one hour on the floor after every match, crying.” Why? “Because she gave more than what she had, and she won the French Open. This is impossible. But she did it.” Williams beat Czechia’s Lucie Safarova in the summit clash with a score line of 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-2.
In general, 2015 season was, by far her best. After all, she accumulated an unreal win percentage of 96.2 across all the four Majors. Along with the AO and Roland Garros, she also won the Wimbledon and then just narrowly missed out a ‘Slam Sweep’ in that calendar. At the US Open, in the SF round, she shockingly lost to Roberta Vinci. But still, Serena amassed 26 wins in 27 Grand Slam matches that year. Just one word – magnificent.
“That’s why I’m saying someone who believes in herself that much, who thinks that whatever circumstances, she’s going to win, this is incredible. This is really incredible.”
But you know what else is incredible about Serena? Her finesse at striking balance between her profession or work commitments and her motherhood. Especially after giving birth to two sweet little ones, Olympia and Adira. Remember how, earlier this year, she had to fly all the way to Louisiana to perform at the Super Bowl? That was a tough ask for mother Williams but she aced this challenge too. How?
When Serena Williams balanced work and motherhood despite hectic Super Bowl schedule
In a 2018 interview, Serena Williams revealed that, “It’s been so hard balancing being a mom and starting my clothing line, as well as playing a professional sport!” And we witnessed exactly that during the Super Bowl in February.
Two months ago, the ex-WTA pro stunned the world with her crip walk during Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show. While her moves turned a million heads, mother Williams was still at work. And her struggles came to light when she unveiled a behind-the-scenes clip on social media.
Apparently, Williams was trying to manage her time between the rehearsals to spend sweet moments with daughter Adira. Shortly after dazzling the Caesars Superdome with her brief, yet, attractive dancing skills, she could be seen going back to Adira to perform motherly duties. In an IG clip, she revealed, “In between meetings, I ran, took Adira to the zoo, and then I’m gonna go back to the office. Just a day in the life.” Her husband, Alexis Ohanian, is the best man to know about her sheer quality of balancing motherhood and work. So how does she do that?
In a 2022 interview, Ohanian said, “My wife’s got like a switch in her brain where when she’s not on the clock, she is off, she is not thinking about tennis or business or fashion or anything. It’s date night or it’s Olympia time. It’s like it is off. I’m certain that is a muscle she’s had exercised her entire career.” It’s clear that Williams has been a super mom the way she was a super tennis player on the court for 20 years. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
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