Serena Williams Will Get Help To Manage Grand Slam Record Pressure

Serena Williams has been stuck on 23 Grand Slam titles since winning the 2017 Australian Open. The American skipped four majors when she was away giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian but has since returned and made four major finals, all of which she has lost.

She made the Wimbledon women’s singles final twice and similarly the U.S. Open final. Williams, despite playing well during the course of the tournament, has struggled in the summit clash going down on all four occasions in straight sets.

Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who has been with the American since 2012, admits that the she is under big pressure to win her 24^th major title and equal Margaret Court’s all-time record. He believes Williams’ opponents have benefitted by playing their matches with no added pressure, which helped them win their matches.

The former world number one played two players that were at the start of their careers at the US Open final – Naomi Osaka in 2018 and teenager Bianca Andreescy in 2019. Williams was favorite on both occasions but was dominated and defeated in straight sets. Mouratoglou admits that the American needs to deal with expectations better and made it clear that he will help his player ahead of next season, when she is certain to return to the fore in terms of challenging for the major titles.

“She’s playing one match for history. This is just a little bit of pressure,” Mouratoglou told the Daily Mail. “She plays someone who is young, has nothing to lose, with zero pressure. That’s why these matches are difficult to win.

“Of course, my job is to help her find a solution to win the finals. For sure, I have to help her deal better with her expectations,” he added. “But it’s important for people to understand how pressure is something difficult to deal with.”

Williams turned 38 recently and obviously questions with regards to retirement were raised. She made it clear that there are no plans at the moment to hang up her racket and Muoratoglou is also certain that she will continue until the day she believes she can no longer challenge the rest of the women’s tour for the major titles.