Serena Williams paid tribute to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou after equalling Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slams by winning a seventh Wimbledon title.
Williams beat Angelique Kerber 7-5,6-3 to edge closer to Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
The American said: “My coach is super serious and I am not thinking about 24 because it was hard getting to 22!”
Mouratoglou said: “If I’m totally honest, I’m not relieved to have got the 22nd one. I’m relieved to have found back Serena.
“There was something missing in the last eight months and the thing that was missing was Serena.”
Mouratoglou blamed Williams’s loss in the US Open semi-final last year, and with it the chance for a calendar year Grand Slam.He added: “The tennis player was there but Serena as a person wasn’t. So she was beatable.”
