Patrick Mouratoglou has been discussing Aryna Sabalenka’s monumental US Open campaign, one where she walked away as champion.
The French coach, who helped guide Serena Williams to 10 Grand Slam singles titles during their decade-long partnership, recently parted ways with Naomi Osaka.
However, this split has not prevented the 55-year-old from vocalising a regular stream of opinions regarding the current affairs of tennis, including his thoughts concerning Aryna Sabalenka’s recent US Open victory.
The Belarusian defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-3 7-6 to retain the crown she captured for the first time in 2024.
Having won four Grand Slam singles titles, Sabalenka has lived through plenty of extremely significant moments. However, Mouratoglou has identified Sabalenka’s recent victory over Anisimova as the most important of her career so far.
Patrick Mouratoglou says losing to Amanda Anisimova would have affected Aryna Sabalenka in future Grand Slam finals
Mouratoglou, who has also worked with Holger Rune and Simona Halep, spoke of the ‘huge’ challenge Sabalenka faced going into the US Open final.
On his YouTube channel, Mouratoglou said: “Aryna won that final here (points to head), for sure.
“She was better than Amanda in most of the decision moments of the match and it was a huge challenge for her, for many reasons.
“First of all, because of the scenario of the last two Grand Slam finals she lost and the fact that she was unable in those finals to play her level, and that’s why she lost them. So she gets discouraged a lot, especially in the final of Roland Garros against Coco.
“So many times, she was showing it, she was showing her discouragement, and this affected her game more and more and more, and I think she took the lesson.
“I think this final of the US Open for Sabalenka was probably the most important match of her career because, if this would have happened again, it probably would have affected her future, her Grand Slam finals in the future.
“Now that she has been able to correct what went wrong in the last two finals to win this one, it is an incredible victory for her.”
Sabalenka and Swiatek make history
Aryna Sabalenka has undoubtedly been the most consistently brilliant player on the WTA Tour this season.
This form, which includes three Grand Slam final appearances, has seen her easily qualify for the WTA Finals in November.
The only players to qualify for the tournament so far are Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, who has enjoyed a spectacular second half to the season.
This is far from the first time both players have qualified for the WTA Finals.
In fact, as per OptaAce, Sabalenka and Swiatek have become the first pair of players to appear at the WTA Finals for five consecutive years since Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska.
Kvitova and Radwanska achieved the feat from 2011 to 2015.
