Sloane Stephens backs Serena Williams’ coach over on-court coaching rule

Sloane Stephens believes that on-court coaching should be introduced in the Grand Slams.

The American player backed the thoughts of Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou on it. ‘I think that a lot of coaching does happen from the stands, anyway,’ Stephens said.

‘Whether it’s right, wrong, whatever, I think that coaching is a big part of tennis, and you’re out there alone. You know, a lot goes into it behind the scenes, preparation and everything.

So I think that I can’t say definitely there should be or should not be, but I think there needs to be a little bit of a change to the rule, definitely.’

Stephens, who opens her campaign at the WTA Finals in Singapore on Monday against the Japanese Naomi Osaka, added: ‘I think the on-court coaching brings in that aspect of you feel like you’re more involved like with the player and coach, and I think that makes it more like a personal type of thing.

Whereas when they are off the court and you don’t see the coach, don’t see the interaction, don’t see the team dynamic, it makes you distant.’ Mouratoglou was spotted gesturing to Williams during her US Open final against Osaka by the chair umpire Carlos Umpire, who gave a warning to Williams over that.

Williams lost her temper and called Ramos a ‘liar’ and a ‘thief’ for which she received another warning – her third of the match – which resulted in her losing the game. The match became infamous in a matter of minutes and the focus of the match was diverted from Osaka’s brilliant performance to Williams’ behavior.

 

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