Serena’s coach wants open on-court coaching

London, October 18 

The coach whose attempts to guide Serena Williams mid-match during this year’s US Open final led to her explosive row with the umpire and a code violation en route to defeat has called for on-court coaching to be permitted.

Patrick Mouratoglou admitted gesturing to Williams from the stands during her match with Naomi Osaka. Coaching during matches is permitted in some women’s events, but Grand Slam tournaments are among those which do not allow it. 

Mouratoglou on Thursday said that mid-match coaching needed to be authorised in order to “ensure tennis sustains its development”.

“Authorising coaching in competition and actually staging it so that the viewers can enjoy it as a show would ensure it remains pivotal in the sport,” he posted on his Twitter feed. “...vast majority of tennis coaches are actually coaching on court, despite the rule,” he said. — Reuters