“Coaching is not judging. Never” – Mouratoglou reacts to Ivanisevic’s comments on Tsitsipas
The French coach does not agree with Ivanisevic’s approach of publicly criticising the player
Patrick Mouratoglou 2025
Image Credit: Thierry Breton / Bestimage / Psnewz
Patrick Mouratoglou, the current coach of four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and former coach of 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams, has said he does not agree with Goran Ivanisevic‘s method of publicly criticising his charge.
Ivanisevic recently started working with Stefanos Tsitsipas but following the Greek’s first-round departure from Wimbledon (he retired against Valentin Royer after losing the first two sets due to a back injury), the Croat criticised Tsitsipas in an interview.
“Truth is, it’s (the approach to coaching) not at all the one suggested by Goran Ivanisevic, doing what he’s done and saying what he’s said about his new player Stefanos Tsitsipas. No need to feed the troll by recalling them. Let’s put it this way: he said Stef did nothing well and had to change all his habits. If Goran accepts the job, he probably knows that Stefanos doesn’t do things the right way or things need to change,” Mouratoglou said in a post on LinkedIn.
“It’s a hard period for Stef. He doesn’t have the same results as before. But it is what it is: when I took Serena Williams or Naomi Osaka, it was a bad period for them. Goran just knew it was a bad period for Stefanos. To point fingers at someone doesn’t help. And above everything: it’s not coaching.”
Mouratoglou, who has had a close association with Tsitsipas over the years with the Greek player also training at the former’s academy in France, added that Ivanisevic appeared to be distancing himself from the poor results of his player, which he believes is not what a good coach should do.
“Coaching is not judging. Never. It’s the opposite. It’s understanding the behaviors and trying to help the person by being together with him or her in the same boat. Judging is not how to operate. Making it public is even worse. It makes me feel that Goran is ashamed of the results, wanting to separate himself from Stefanos. Like: ‘It’s not me. Me? I’m good. But he’s not good. That’s his fault.’
“That’s not coaching. That’s honestly the opposite of what coaching should be about. You can talk about your player publicly, but not by throwing him or her to the wolves. Most of the things are done behind the scenes. It’s a one-on-one relationship. Just build it. I don’t have the details, but I would be very surprised if they could work together properly. You need to build trust. It’s not how you build trust with your player.”
Mouratoglou agreed that Tsitsipas was going through a difficult patch in his career but did not agree with Ivanisevic’s assessment that the Greek does nothing right.
“Does Stefanos do everything right? Probably not. Does he do everything wrong? For sure not.
Nobody does everything wrong. He’s a professional player for many years now, he knows what it is about. He’s just a player having a difficult moment. A difficult moment can create wrong behaviors. As a coach, you need to bring him back to good behaviors. Together with the player, there’s no other way.”
