Novak Djokovic battling same ‘big struggle’ Serena Williams faced, says Patrick Mouratoglou
Patrick Mouratoglou has compared Novak Djokovic’s motivation struggles to an experience Serena Williams had while he was coaching the American legend.
Djokovic has made it clear that competing for Grand Slams is his priority at this stage of his career and recently admitted he lacks motivation for practice sessions at times.
“The priority for us is always trying to approach the training session with the right kind of mentality – it’s not always easy,” Djokovic told Sky Sports ahead of the Madrid Open.
“Some days I feel excited and really motivated, some days less.”
The 37-year-old tennis great has lost his opening match at four of the seven tournaments he has played in 2025, and he has endured a difficult run since reaching the Miami Open final.
After he was upset by Jakub Mensik in the Miami final, Djokovic lost to Alejandro Tabilo in Monte Carlo and Matteo Arnaldi in Madrid — with all of these defeats coming in straight sets.
Djokovic has withdrawn from the Italian Open, raising further questions about his hunger to play outside the four majors.
The Serbian won his 24th and most recent Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open, while his last title came at the Paris Olympics in August last year.
During an appearance on Tennis Channel’s Second Serve show, Mouratoglou spoke about the start of his spell working with Serena Williams.
“It’s funny because when we started, yes she lost in the first round of Roland Garros [in 2012], but also two years without winning a Grand Slam, which is a lot for Serena,” recalled the Frenchman.
“And she told me, ‘I just wanna win one more and potentially end up my career’, because she was not playing great for two years — I mean, not to her standards, say it like this.
“So that was a short-term thing at that time, but because she won Wimbledon and right after, two gold medals — singles and doubles at the Olympics — and then after again, US Open, and then the WTA championship at the end of the season, and then she completely forgot about potentially retiring.
Novak Djokovic News
How Novak Djokovic’s Italian Open withdrawal affects his Roland Garros hopes
‘Novak Djokovic only cares about winning one tournament’, says former world No 8
“And then yeah, it was a lot about motivation. After she won several more [Grand Slams], we talked about the record of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, and the goal was to beat this one, and of course after, Steffi Graf.
“It’s funny because I remember… I mean, two months, one month before the US Open, when she would — if she would have won it, by the way, tie Steffi at that time — she said to me, ‘Okay, so what’s next? Because once I do that, what am I going to do?’
“So, that was… always chasing something for her was very important. She always had something in mind, a big goal in mind that was motivating her, because yeah, of course, difficult to imagine how it feels to win so many Grand Slams, but I guess the motivation at some point is tough.”
The renowned coach went on to liken Williams’ search for motivation after her historic achievements to the situation Djokovic now finds himself in.
“And we see it with Novak now — that’s his big struggle,” Mouratoglou continued.
“The guy, it’s not about his tennis, it’s just about him being motivated — it’s very obvious when he plays matches, and probably when he practices.
“What’s his goal now that he found out to win more Slams than his two big rivals, which were Roger [Federer] and Rafa [Nadal]?”
READ NEXT: Novak Djokovic may have ‘other distractions’ amid slump, says former British No 1
