Patrick Mouratoglou highlights the one ‘big difference’ between coaching male and female tennis players

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Patrick Mouratoglou has won 36 singles titles as a coach, including ten victories at the Grand Slam level.

The 54-year-old Frenchman has coached several big names on the WTA Tour to great success.

Alongside American legend Serena Williams, Mouratoglou won ten Major titles, completing two Career Grand Slams.

Mouratoglou has also coached several big names on the ATP Tour, perhaps none bigger than Stefanos Tsitsipas, whom he worked with sporadically between 2018 and 2021.

Speaking ahead of this year’s Madrid Open, Mouratoglou has highlighted the one key difference between coaching male and female players.

Patrick Mouratoglou says WTA players want coaches to ‘take control’ and says ATP players would ‘hate’ that

During an interview with Daniela Hantuchova, Mouratoglou picked out the biggest difference he’s noticed from coaching men’s and women’s players.

“There is one big difference, and a lot of women’s players have told me also, men players want to feel like they are bosses, so they want you to be behind them, they want to feel like they make decisions, take control, take everything,” he said.

“Women want you to be in front, a lot of them, they feel more secure. 

“I feel like they’re seeking security and their way of feeling secure is to have a coach next to them that makes decisions for them, not that they can’t, but it makes them feel secure.

“If you try to coach a man like a woman, he would hate it and it’s not going to work, and vice versa, I think there are exceptions, of course, but I think most of the female players like when the coach is taking a lot of decisions.”

Mouratoglou did, however, point out a common misconception that people have around the differences between ATP and WTA Tour players.

“I’ve heard a lot of wrong things like ‘Women are so much more emotional than men’, that’s what I’ve heard every time about coaching players,” he said.

“I always say I don’t agree with that, I think men are as emotional as women.

“The difference is men don’t show it because they want to look strong, they have big egos, and they think it’s not manly to show emotions, so they hide their emotions, but I can tell you they’re scared the same way before the matches.

“They will not cry because they’d be ashamed to cry, but they feel like crying, a woman would not be ashamed to cry.

“So they’re not more emotional, they share their emotion with you much more, which in a way makes my life easier because I know exactly how they feel, with guys, a lot of time they don’t want to show, because they feel weak by showing.”

Has Patrick Mouratoglou had more success coaching male or female tennis players?

Mouratoglou began his coaching career in 1999, alongside former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis.

Since then, he’s worked with over ten players across the ATP and WTA Tour’s winning several big titles.

Overall, it’s clear to see that Mouratoglou has enjoyed far more success working alongside female players.

Patrick Mouratoglou’s record with WTA players

• Grand Slam titles – 10
• WTA 1000 titles – 10
• WTA Finals titles – 3
• Olympic Gold – 1

Patrick Mouratoglou’s record with ATP players

• Grand Slam titles – 0
• Masters 1000 titles – 1
• ATP Finals titles – 1
• Olympic Gold – 0

However, that’s not to say the Frenchman hasn’t picked up some big wins alongside his ATP Tour pupils.

Mouratoglou coached Holger Rune to his first Masters 1000 title at the Paris Masters in 2022, guiding the Dane to several top-ten wins in the French capital.

Rune shocked six-time champion Novak Djokovic in the final, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, as Mouratoglou won his first Masters 1000 title as a coach.

Now coaching Japan’s Naomi Osaka, Mouratoglou would no doubt love to add another title to his resume soon.

Osaka will return to action at the WTA 125 event in Saint Malo on Monday, April 28.