IF Germany's Angelique Kerber was looking for a crumb of comfort as she prepared to face Serena Williams in the final of the Australian Open then it is to be hoped she has not been listening to Patrick Mouratoglou.
After a three-month break, Williams’ coach believes that the 34-year-old is playing better tennis than in 2015 when she went so close to completing the grand slam, winning the first three majors of the year before going out in the semi-finals of the US Open last September.
“If I speak about her level, I think she’s playing better tennis than last year,” he said.
“She won a lot last year but I think she was far from her best and I think she’s closer this year [so far].
“I’m happy with the level. I’m happy also about the way she plays. We’ve worked a lot on that, in the pre-season.
“She’s obviously the tennis of the past because the last 20 years she’s been dominating the game so much.
“What I want and what she wants is also that her tennis is the tennis of the future. So that’s why we’re working on stuff to improve and to look like what tennis is going to be in the next years and I think she’s doing quite well.”
Williams’ defeat by Roberta Vinci of Italy in New York was a bitter pill to swallow, especially after she had fought so hard to get to that point.
It also stopped her from equalling Steffi Graf in second place in the all-time list of grand slams wins, with 22, something she will hope to rectify by beating Kerber for the sixth time in seven meetings.
Mouratoglou said late last year that Williams had been forced to stop after New York because of her chronic knees, which require injections every six months.
But the time off also allowed her to recover mentally and having not dropped a set in getting to the final, she goes in as a huge favourite.
“I would say this is probably the best slam I've played in a year and I've won a lot in a year,” Williams said yesterday. “Again, I haven't won this one. But even if I don't win, I really can take away that I've been really consistent, and I want to continue that.
“I'm the favourite. I was the favourite in New York. I feel like I could have done better in New York. But that was a learning experience. So I'm going to hopefully take that to the court for not only this tournament but for the rest of these slams.”
Mouratoglou said tying Graf with 22 wins would be nice “but 23 is better” and the Frenchman said she is free of pressure.
“[What happened at the US Open] was the end of a very tiring season,” he said.
“It’s like a combination of many factors that made it like that. She had to dig so deep in many tournaments last year. Roland Garros was the worst and the moment she needed to be the best mentally was the moment she was the most tired also.
“This is totally different. She is rested mentally, she’s excited and I think the tennis that she’s playing makes her feel even better.”
As for Kerber, she knows what to expect, it’s just how she deals with what’s coming at her and how she copes with the occasion.
“I think when you ask a lot of people, most will say, OK, Serena will win,” she said. “But this is the challenge I can take.
“I go out there, I have nothing to lose. I don't have so much pressure like she has.”
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