Simona Halep to work full-time with Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou

Simona Halep will work with Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou on a full-time basis. 

Williams has been coached by Mouratoglou since 2012 but has not played since Wimbledon last year, after sustaining a leg injury. 

The American’s absence has meant Mouratoglou has had little to do and the Frenchman admitted he has missed coaching over the past eight months. 

The 51-year-old, who has also worked with the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas and rising star Coco Gauff, will now work with two-time major winner Halep permanently after speaking with Williams.

“I had a conversation with Serena, and the door opened for me, at least short term, to work with someone else,” he wrote on Twitter. 

Halep has wanted to work with Mouratoglou for some time and the Frenchman says he initially turned down the chance to coach the Romanian. 

However, after speaking to Williams he changed his mind and has now agreed to work permanently with the world number 20. 

“Simona came to the Mouratoglou Academy before Indian Wells for a training block. I swung by at a few of her practices, watched her train,” he said.

I am now the full-time coach of @Simona_Halep. pic.twitter.com/MRlkmeJyhw

“In the last eight months, I realized how much I missed coaching. It is the passion of my life, and I still feel like I have so much to give.”

Williams won 10 of her 23 major singles titles with Mouratoglou but has given no indication as to when she may return. 

Yet, she has stressed that breaking Margaret Court’s all-time major record is no longer her main concern. 

While some players stick by the same coaching team for much of their careers, Halep has tended to switch up her mentor on a regular basis 

The Romanian has worked on multiple occasions with Darren