Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, recently gave thoughts on Rafael Nadal’s mentality surrounding some defeats in his own career. The Spaniard had previously said that “learning more from victories than from defeats” was his go-to mantra, which is at odds with Mouratoglou’s tennis know-how.

Nadal retired from pro tennis at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain, following a prolonged bout with injuries. Since hanging up his racket, the 22-time Major winner has made sporadic public appearances, with his latest turn coming at Stade Roland-Garros, where he received a grand tribute from the Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT) for his haul of 14 titles at the French Open.

On Thursday (June 19), Patrick Mouratoglou took to his Instagram handle to post a reel where he dissected a recent quote from the former World No. 1 about the learning curve after tough losses. Rafael Nadal said:

“I learned much more from victories than from defeats. I always said that. I was always self-critical enough with myself so that my victories help me read all the things I need to improve.”

Serena Williams’ former coach took exception to the Spaniard’s attitude concerning the above quote, maintaining that having such a meek outlook towards defeats wasn’t ideal for “champions” of the sport. He said:

“I understand why you challenge me on this one because I think the exact opposite. It’s not surprising to me that he took the losses extremely badly, it was quite obvious. And I think you should. You shouldn’t accept to lose. That’s one of the marks of the champions to refuse to lose. To learn nothing is a bit sad. And I don’t think it’s true.”

During the reel, Mouratoglou further added his two cents on what Nadal probably failed to get across.

“Maybe Rafael Nadal feels he didn’t learn anything, but I don’t think so” – Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou.

Patrick Mouratoglou insisted that Rafael Nadal was perhaps being too harsh on himself by claiming that he didn’t “learn anything” from defeats to his biggest rivals. According to the Frenchman, the 22-time Major winner probably took more key lessons from his wins as they brought him “confidence”. He said:

“Maybe he feels he didn’t learn anything, but I don’t think so. I think when you lose to players, you understand maybe what you should have done better, how to beat this player or how to prevent him from beating you. What he means, probably is that victory brought him a lot of confidence, which he needed to perform.”

Mouratoglou, meanwhile, coached Williams to 10 singles Major titles from 2012 to 2017. Their partnership eventually came to an end following the 2021 WTA Tour seaso,n and he has since begun coaching former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka.