Is there another future Williams’ tennis star on the way?
Serena Williams won her fourth U.S. Open title Sunday, but it was the first without her father, Richard, present. According to a tennis source, Papa Williams was back in Palm Beach Gardens as his new wife, Lakeisha, 34, is very pregnant.
It is the first time since the Williams sisters burst onto the scene that he wasn’t a presence at Flushing Meadows, dating to 1997’s Venus debut. The pregnancy may have been one reason for Williams’ absence. But it is also noteworthy Serena has added another coach to the mix, Patrick Mouratoglou, listed as her “coaching consultant.’’
Mouratoglou began working with Serena after the French Open and her results have been sensational since, with her Wimbledon title and twin gold medals at the Olympic Games in singles and doubles.
“I think Patrick has been great,’’ Williams said after her victory Sunday. “He’s been really positive in my life. I love how calm he is. I’m a little crazy. Wherever I look up, he always looks so confident. I love that. So we have a good strategy going on. We have good chemistry.”