NEW YORK—Patrick Mouratoglou has no regrets for committing a coaching violation gesturing to Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open final and says he would "do the same tomorrow."
Meeting the media after the six-time US Open champion rolled her right ankle in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Petra Martic to reach the US Open quarterfinals, Mouratoglou said he'll do it again if a similar scenario arises.
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"Do I regret? No, I felt like she was lost at that moment and I tried to help her doing something that everybody does that is the use of the tennis," Mouratoglou said. "I would do the same tomorrow. Really. 100 percent. And if I'm penalized again, I think it's unfair the same way. If I'm penalized, then everyone should be penalized every day. And nobody is. Nobody."
The veteran coach has said Williams did not see his hand signals and charged Naomi Osaka's coach for the 2018 final, Sascha Bajin, coached his charge throughout the Japanese power player's 6-2, 6-4, sweep in the final.
The 20th-seeded Serena was called for a game penalty for verbally abusing chair umpire Carlos Ramos after the veteran umpire hit her with two warnings—one for coaching and one for smashing her racquet.
Mouratoglou, who was captured by court-side cameras making a "move forward" gesture with both hands, freely admits he did try to coach Williams, but said that's standard procedure for coaches in major finals and called it "the most stupid rule."
"I'm okay to be penalized if I did something really bad that is not, when you smash the racquet, you always have a warning," Mouratoglou said. "This is really the rule and the use. So this is something nobody complains about because we know that I think it's the most stupid rule.
"I don't think we should get penalized for that. That's how it is. This is fine. But when you never, and nobody is penalized or almost never, I don't think it's fair. So do I regret? No. Would I do it again tomorrow if it's necessary? Yes."
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