Serena Williams’ strange, shaky exit from Wimbledon was attributed to a “viral illness.” But Williams’ coach and rumored lover Patrick Mouratoglou made no mention of the sickness in an interview that hinted at a “difficult phase” in Williams’ life.
“Serena is clearly going through a difficult period,” Mouratoglou told tennismagazine.fr on Wednesday. “I have never discussed private matters and I am not going to talk about them now. There have been difficult things. For sure, Serena is in a difficult phase but I will leave it there.”
The world No. 1’s Wimbledon campaign ended with her in tears on July 1, when she had to be led off the court by sister Venus and retire from their doubles match. Serena was on wobbly legs throughout warmups and her lone service game featured four horrific double faults. She was previously knocked out in the third round of the singles tournament.
Tennis great Martina Navratilova was among those who expressed skepticism at the official explanation for Serena’s woes.
“I think virus, whatever they’re saying it was, I don’t think that was it,” Navratilova told ESPNw. “I think it’s clear that’s not the case. I don’t know what it is, but I hope Serena will be OK.”
Mouratoglou refused to elaborate on any problems the American might be suffering or if the two had a rift in their personal or professional relationship.
“Since Wimbledon, we have had long hours of talks and we are getting back to work,” Mouratoglou said.
“Today she is in the mood to get back to training so she can return even stronger. At no time was there any question of us stopping our collaboration.”
Williams is due to return to action at the Stanford event in California on July 28.
With Post wires