Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ coach, says the tennis great is “pain-free” and ready to make a run for breaking the Grand Slam win record.
Williams is currently competing at Wimbledon. If she wins, that will put her number of Grand Slam titles at 24, tying the all-time grand slam win record set by Australian legend Margaret Court in 1973. Just one more after that would put Williams over the edge and add a new line under her name in the history books.
However, Williams has been beset with health issues, including a nagging knee injury that has haunted her this season.
Mouratoglou says that’s behind her now, and she has no plans of slowing down.
“‘I think she is in a good place at the moment,’ Mouratoglou said at Wimbledon this week. ‘She is happy. She has a house here, her husband is here. Her daugher is here and she is pain free now for three weeks so she feels so much lighter.”
The 49-year-old has been Williams’ coach for seven years, and says chasing the Grand Slam record has kept Williams going through the pain.
“But 24, it will mean she will equal the record of all time. Then she will have only one more to go to beat it and that is why she came back to playing tennis after having a baby and so many medical complications,” he said.
In addition to knee issues, Williams famously dealt with blood clots and other serious complications after the birth of her daughter, Olympia, in 2017.