Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, has stirred plenty of debate on social media recently.
After the conclusion of the Australian Open semifinal between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, Mouratoglou took to Instagram to voice his opinion.
He argued that the Serb’s triumph over the Italian does not mean that the ‘big three’ era is better than the current ‘new two’ of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, and that anyone who thinks that has a ‘short-term view’.
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In the comment section to his post, Rafael Nadal responded with a number of laughing emojis, suggesting he disagrees with Mouratoglou.
Now, Boris Becker has weighed in on the discussion by replying to him.
Boris Becker replies to Patrick Mouratoglou’s comments
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Becker said: “Patrick, I think you’re alone with your opinion!”
Mouratoglou then hit back and said: “I never made an opinion based on what people think, but out of my own opinion. Only dead fish swim with the stream.”
When giving his view, Mouratoglou explained that Sinner had won the five previous bouts with Djokovic before their Australian Open clash.
He said that Sinner moves faster, hits harder, takes the ball earlier and serves better than Djokovic.
Mouratoglou claimed that Djokovic is not a better tennis player than Sinner, but he is the biggest competitor in history.
Rick Macci explains why it is difficult to compare eras in tennis
Amid the debate on social media, another former coach of Williams, Rick Macci, explained why it is difficult to compare eras.
On X, Macci said: “Winning Grand Slams on the ATP Tour is never easy. To compare to the past generations is really apples and oranges.
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“The speed of the game is more dynamic. That means movement is more [of] a premium. Technical adaptations would be mandatory.
“So all the greats from the past would hit and play a little different and mentally react accordingly.”
With his victory at the Australian Open, Alcaraz secured a seventh major title, and is now 13 behind Roger Federer.
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