Patrick Mouratoglou has proven himself to be a world-class coach over the years, having guided one of the greats of the game to the biggest titles in tennis.
Mouratoglou worked with Serena Williams from 2012 to 2022, helping her clinch 10 Grand Slams, three WTA Tour championships, and an Olympic gold medal.
As well as Williams, the Frenchman has enjoyed success with Aravane Rezai, Simona Halep and Holger Rune.
Since Mouratoglou parted ways with Naomi Osaka, the 55-year-old has recently been reflecting on his early days in coaching, where he once thought it might not be the job for him.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty ImagesPatrick Mouratoglou recalls his stint with Marcos Baghdatis
He was in the corner of former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis from 1999 to 2006, a seven-year period marking his first stint as a coach.
In a post on Instagram, Mouratoglou recalled: “I remember Marcos Baghdatis, when I started to work with him as a coach, I followed him on a Challenger in Bratislava.
“I remember he went from the qualifiers to the final, and he played Dominik Hrbaty, who was number 14 in the world. Marcos was 300.
“The match starts, he’s down 4-1, Hrbaty has a better forehand, better backhand, better serve, better movement. I remember, I thought, s——, it’s going to be tough to win this one, and Marcos won.
“If you ask me, how? I have no idea, but he found a way. After that match, I thought I was a terrible coach because I didn’t believe in my player.
“I learned something big this day. Thankfully, he didn’t feel it. Otherwise, he would probably have lost. But he believed. I mean, the guy plays for the moment, and he found a way. And that’s really special.”
Patrick Mouratoglou’s spell with Marcos Baghdatis on the ATP Tour
Mouratoglou first began coaching Baghdatis when he was 14 years old after inviting him to his academy in 1999.
With him, the Cypriot became junior world number one and won the 2003 Australian boys’ title.
In 2006, Baghdatis had his best year on the ATP Tour, reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon and the final of the Australian Open, where he ultimately lost to Roger Federer.
Under Mouratoglou in 2006, he reached a career-high ranking of 8th in the world, but after falling to 11th in October that year, he never returned to the top ten for the remainder of his tennis journey, which ended in 2019.