“I think that allowed her to win Roland Garros two times in three years”: Patrick Mouratoglou on the forehand tweak that changed Serena Williams’ clay game

For Patrick Mouratoglou, the offseason is not merely a period of rest or physical maintenance; it is the only window in the tennis calendar where genuine evolution can occur. Speaking recently about his coaching philosophy during an interview with Greg Rusedsky, the Frenchman revealed how he utilized these critical training blocks to implement the technical changes that helped Serena Williams extend her dominance on clay later in her career.

The density of the modern calendar makes substantial in-season adjustments nearly impossible, leaving the winter break as the only safe harbor for evolution. Attempting to alter a swing path while competing is a recipe for disaster, and Mouratoglou emphasizes that “it's always difficult to look in depth and make changes on your technique... knowing that you have an event in one week,” he said during the Ultimate Tennis Showdown London making these few weeks crucial for long-term development.

The physical foundation of this period is punishing, designed to shock the body back into an elite state after the brief respite of holidays. The protocol begins with a total separation from the tennis court, where “you have a week of only fitness where we can really focus on first coming back,” Mouratoglou says, because after a break “you basically lost most of your fitness” and need to reset the engine before touching a racket.

However, the French coach argues that the most critical aspect is the transition to specific conditioning that cannot be replicated in a gym. It is one thing to run on a track, but Mouratoglou warns that “you can do hours of fitness, [but] if you don't do fitness on the court... playing tennis is such a different activity,” stressing that true endurance must be built with the specific movements of the sport.

While physical conditioning provides the baseline, the most significant breakthrough Mouratoglou oversaw was a specific technical overhaul of Serena Williams’ forehand. Despite possessing what he calls “probably the greatest woman’s serve in the game history” and a solid backhand, her forehand was historically flatter, and he noted that “to be able to be as consistent with her forehand as she was with her backhand... was a key” to unlocking her potential on clay.

The technical adjustment focused on generating topspin and altering her court position, moving her away from flat hitting toward a style better suited for clay. Mouratoglou explained that previously her shot “was extremely flat,” so the focus became “stepping inside the court, playing more spin,” which transformed a shot that relied on raw power into a weapon of controlled aggression suited for the slower red dirt of Paris.

This shift was not just aesthetic; it was statistically transformative and helped extend her dominance on her least natural surface. The result was undeniable, as Mouratoglou pointed out that “that was a big change and I think that also allowed her to win Roland Garros two times in three years,” a feat she had accomplished “only once in ten years” prior to making these specific winter adjustments.

Beyond the mechanics of spin rates and footwork, Mouratoglou views the offseason as the primary battleground for psychological warfare against one's own limitations. He believes that while equipment tweaks have value, they pale in comparison to shifting a player's internal narrative, admitting that “I will never think that changing the material things would make a big change,” but “modifying the mindset in a good way of course can make major changes.”

For the Frenchman, the ultimate victory of the preseason is not measured in lap times, but in the shattering of mental obstacles that hold talent back. He concludes that “when a player has mental walls that cannot break, if you find a way to help him break that wall... what's opening in front of him at that moment is huge,” describing it as the “major difference” between good and great.