Serena Williams’ former coach responds after star accused of giving ‘cold’ handshake during Wimbledon loss

Oliver Paton 04 Jul 2026 2:04 PM

Serena Williams and Maya Joint during their match

Serena Williams’ former coach has labelled the 23-time Grand Slam champion as ‘polarising’, but dismissed any criticism of the American’s handshake following her Wimbledon defeat.

The tennis legend returned to singles action after nearly four years away from professional tennis at this year’s Wimbledon.

Despite still possessing her dominant serve and signature power, Williams’ lack of match practice was evident from the very first game as she lost to Australian Maya Joint 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3.

At the net, the American leaned over for a quick handshake with Joint, an action that drew criticism from some viewers.

The seven-time Wimbledon champion was awarded a wildcard into the singles draw, alongside direct entry into the women’s doubles event with her sister, Venus.

Patrick Mouratoglou, who coached Williams from 2012 to 2022, weighed in and came to the defence of the superstar’s SW19 presence.

“Serena is polarising, people love her, or people are against her,” said the Frenchman on his Instagram.

“So, for sure, when she got the wildcard at Wimbledon, all the people who are against her are saying she’s taking away a wildcard from a young player.

“But haters are haters. They will complain about that.”

Latest Wimbledon News

Alex Eala on the brink of rankings breakthrough ahead of Wimbledon clash with Iga Swiatek

Jannik Sinner rates his level at Wimbledon after beating Jenson Brooksby

During Novak Djokovic’s second-round press conference, the Serb also jumped to Williams’ defence and argued that “people need to cool off” when criticising the legends of the sport, regardless of the results.

“She’s 44, I mean, she has two children,” he began.

“Coming back, it’s normal that she still is not at her best in terms of movement. She hasn’t played a match, I mean, in so many years.

“People need to cool off a little bit with judgment and criticism and everything. Let’s just enjoy the greatness, who she is, what she represents to the sport.

“Her wanting to give it a try and just come back is an incredible gift for our sport. I think people sometimes, I don’t know why they don’t appreciate that enough.

“They just start to speculate, judge or whatever. It’s like, ‘Hey, guys, enjoy. You have the greatest ever to come play for you, to bring more attention to your sport.'”

Williams also competed in women’s doubles at Queen’s Club, defeating third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6(2), 6-2 alongside Victoria Mboko.

The pair withdrew from their subsequent match after the Canadian suffered an injury during her singles campaign.

Karolina Muchova then teamed up with the former world No. 1 at the Berlin Open. However, the pair were defeated 6-4, 6-4 by Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos in the first round.

“I agree with Novak [Djokovic] 100%,” continued Mouratoglou.

“Who doesn’t want to see the greatest of all time come back at 44 and perform on Centre Court of Wimbledon? Everybody except the haters.

“And also the haters said, oh, she was rude. She was rude? Because she shook the hand of the opponent? This is rude? 40 years ago, everybody was shaking the hand. Now, we’re holding the [other] person.

“Serena didn’t come to the Centre Court of Wimbledon for a date. She came to beat an opponent in a tennis match. She played a very good match.

“Even though she was injured. And she proved that she has the level to play.”