How to best prepare your player for a match
Exclusive advice from Serena Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, on ‘How to best prepare your player for a match’:
Get the scouting right.
“I’ve been scouting all the Tour players for many years now. I’ve always considered that it was part of my coaching skill as I want to prepare my player in the best possible way. Year after year, I have built my database with all the information that I consider decisive on every one of them. I use that information when I prepare my player before every match. As you can sometimes see in skiing or Formula One, players visualise, mentally, the circuit before the start of the race. In tennis, it is a major plus to have a clear idea about the opponent and to be able to mentally see him play and behave.”
Keep things simple.
“More than knowing how the opponent is playing, my client needs to have clear information on strengths and weaknesses, the most-used combination of shots, patterns on the major points, where the opponent serves and where he returns on both first and second serve. Before every match, I set up a strategy taking into consideration, both my player’s game, strengths, favorite combinations and the opponent’s weaknesses. During the warm-up before the match we repeat as an actor repeats his play the partition we are going to play during the match.”
Trust in the numbers.
“I always like to take statistics of the matches, both of my player’s and the future opponent’s ones. Statistics don’t lie. We can always have a wrong perception because we have emotions watching tennis. I love to confront my feelings, my sensations with statistics and get a confirmation. I make my own personal statistic page that I fill. I know the kind of information that I am looking for, and the figures give me the feedback that I need.”