Controversy and strong reactions by a coach who stated that Nadal will not arrive well at Roland Garros: “A little respect and memory”

Patrick Mouratoglou is one of the most popular coaches of the tennis circuit. At least one of the most promoted today. French of Greek origin, he became notorious as a coach of the American Serena Williams (since 2012), has an academy attended by top-level professionals and juniors (Stefanos Tsitsipas, one of them) and for a handful of weeks he became the Romanian’s stable coach Simona Halep. It never goes unnoticed: in a world as individualistic as tennis, it generates praise but also some discredit.

In the last few hours, with the Mutua Madrid Open underway, Mouratoglou He was at the center of criticism from some colleagues for a statement he gave linked to Rafael Nadal and the next Roland Garros, which will begin on the 16th of the current one. “Rafa is not going to play many games [antes del Abierto de Francia] and it is very rare that he arrives at Roland Garros with so few games. So this tournament will be a bit of an unknown for him. Despite his incredible start to the season, Rafa has always been a player who needed to play a lot. He’s not going to arrive in his best shape.”expressed Mouratoglou on France Television, about the thirteen-time champion in the Bois de Boulogne.

The Spanish Carlos Moya, number 1 in the world in 1999 and one of Nadal’s coaches, went to the Mouratoglou crossroads from his Twitter account. Moya did not like that the Frenchman said that the Majorcan will reach the second Grand Slam of the season with less competition rhythm than usual (it is worth remembering that Nadal dropped out of Monte Carlo and Barcelona due to a rib injury).

“17 years in a row top 10, Roland Garros ’20 with 3 matches in 7 months, Australian Open ’22 with 3 matches in 6 months… a little respect and memory @pmouratoglou”wrote on Twitter, sanguine, Charly Moya (winner of 20 titles, including the French Open in 1998).

Moya’s post generated many repercussions and reactions on social networks and also in the world of rackets. Peruvian Luis Horna, 33rd in the individual ranking in 2004 and doubles champion at Roland Garros 2008 (along with Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas), hung on Moya’s message and pointed to Mouratoglou: “It’s a joke about this man”.

“It’s just that the smoke doesn’t let him think clearly…”sentenced, also on Twitter, the Argentine Gustavo Luza, 37th in the world doubles ranking in 1990 and former captain of the Davis Cup national team.

Another former tennis player like the Spanish Tomás Carbonell (40th singles in 1996), expanded: “Charly?? Could you help me find the titles, years on tour, ranking of this world guru? I must have a problem with Wikipedia and I get nothing, nothing, nothing”.

It is fair to remember that Nadal, champion of 21 Grand Slam singles titles, appeared at Roland Garros 2020 after a long inactivity due to the pandemic and with the only shooting of the rooms of the Masters 1000 in Rome, where he fell with Diego Schwartzman.

Then, in Paris, he raised the Musketeers Cup for the thirteenth time, under other weather conditions than usual (with cold and roof) due to the change of date in the calendar. The real thing is that, regardless of how this year arrives, Nadal will be the top candidate to be crowned.