Serena Williams is women's GOAT but men's GOAT is yet to be decided, says Patrick Mouratoglou

Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou firmly believes that the American has cemented her place in the history books as the GOAT (Greatest Of All-Time) in women’s tennis.

Mouratoglou, who coached Williams from 2012 to 2022, believes that no other player can surpass his former charge’s achievements in the women’s game.

Stating that it was the decade of ‘GOATs’, the Frenchman named several athletes across sports who deserved the title. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were the other tennis players he named, with the likes of LeBron James, Tiger Woods and Lewis Hamilton also finding mention.

When Eurosport picked up his quote and asked fans to name their own GOATs, Mouratoglou replied as well, declaring Williams the undisputed best player of all-time in women's tennis. At the same time, the Frenchman was undecided on who gets that honor in men's tennis.

“Serena in women’s tennis and still tbd in men’s,” Mouratoglou tweeted.

Serena Williams retired from tennis at the 2022 US Open with a total of 23 singles Grand Slam titles to her name, the most by any player in the Open Era.

Federer also retired last year, playing his last match at the Laver Cup in London. The Swiss maestro, with his 20 Grand Slam titles, will go down in history as one of the best to ever have played the sport. Nadal and Djokovic, on the other hand, each have 22 Major titles and are still vying for top honors on the ATP tour.

When asked how he could include three players on the GOAT list for men’s tennis, Mouratoglou responded by saying that each of them is undoubtedly the best, but the GOAT is yet undecided. That debate, he reckons, will come to an end in the coming years, perhaps by the time Nadal and Djokovic have retired for good.

“They are undoubtedly the three best players in the history, even though next years will probably define one of the three as the only GOAT,” he opined.

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“I taught Serena Williams to think like Serena again" - Patrick Mouratoglou

Serena Williams had a resurgence under Patrick Moratoglou

Patrick Mouratoglou coached American tennis legend Serena Williams for a decade, from 2012-2022. He played a pivotal role in bringing the 23-time Grand Slam champion back to dominating the tour.

Following the biggest shock defeat of her career at the 2015 US Open semifinals at the hands of Roberta Vinci, however, Moratoglou revealed in a recent interview that she suffered from a lack of motivation. It took the Frenchman to get her out of that slump and start thinking like herself again.

"She had forgotten that. So, she loses the US Open semifinal against Roberta Vinci and it had a huge impact on her.” said Moratoglou. “Even though it is one defeat after four Grand Slams won in a row, and she was in the semifinal of the fifth. Then, she is in the Roland Garros final, playing extremely badly, and the previous losses are still having an impact"

"She can make it to the final as she has the tennis and physical qualities, but to win a final requires a specific headspace. Serena didn't have it. I taught Serena Williams to think like Serena again," he added.

Williams won 10 of her 23 singles Grand Slam titles with the Frenchman as her coach, along with an Olympic gold medal. She also won the year-end championships three times with Mouratoglou and rose back to No. 1 in the WTA rankings.