Jacket Boggi MilanoPullover Eric Bompard Patrick

MouratoglouPhotographer Jérémy Dubois

Stylist Margaux Sirejacob Creative Director Kurtiss Valentino Grooming/Hair Bruno Segni

We recently had the honor of 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 and driving force behind the newly

launched, Champ’Seed Foundation.

Patrick has a reputation for quality coaching. He takes all the time he needs to get to know his

players, how to best analyze their game and per- sonality, for the purpose of earning their trust.

He considers Richard Williams, Serena’s father, as one of 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 of non-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 thenreach 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 coached such notable tennis stars as: Marcos Baghdatis, Anas- tasia Pavlyuchenkova, Jeremy Chardy, Aravane Rezai and Grigor 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. How did 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 personal story. 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 of the people don’t exactly know what it really means. Bytelling my coaching collaborations and stories, I can explain how I think, plan, and drive people to success. I also tell how my mistakes and failures have been useful, as they showed me the right way to finally get the results I wanted. What we are currently achieving

with Serena is so exciting and motivating! She is becoming, though her achievements, the best player of all time and I believe that it is important to tell our story. How it started, how we interact, how we build our professional relationship 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 her career. 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. The idea

but I thought 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 back to the Top and become even better than 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 conceivingit. More than that, the thought of losing 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 thingsget 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 of fear, fear of failing, fear of the 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 feedback that I need. It is always ok to fail, because at the end, I will succeed.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 discover new horizons. Everyone has a different comfort zone. Mine is in the unknown, in doing newthings 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 successful is 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 teachcoaches, I help them prioritizetheir actions, commu- nicate with their player, getthe 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. Weare 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 is fullof 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

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the way you receive it.The same situation affects different people in different

ways. It can depress or motivate.

What I care about is the way my player will emotionally cope with defeat, and what itwill generate in him.

What is your secret for maximizing talent when a player must face a more physically powerful oppo- nent?Every player has different skills. Power is one of them. If my player doesn’t have 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 physical are 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 professional one. 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 the way 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, itwill help him keep motivation even when the times are hard.But more than that, the future Champion needs to

win.This is themost motivatingthing in the world. It is essential that, even though heis 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 consider that 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 assist a 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 than20 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 school and 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 Mouratoglou Tennis Academy is my

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meth- odologythat has been used with top

players for 20 years.We also have two new technologies that we decided

to get equipped with. The first one is called PlaySight. The principleis to use video cameras on the court to get all the data to get statistics on the ef- ficiency of the shots of the 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 under the 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 and Philanthropy.I also love to host my show on 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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