Renowned tennis coach responds to Roger Federer

Roger Federer's opinion on today's tennis court speeds is widely accepted, yet Patrick Mouratoglou holds a different view.

While Roger Federer believes that faster courts will make matches more exciting and reduce the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz—a perspective that many support—Patrick Mouratoglou, former coach of Serena Williams, expressed a contrasting opinion.

According to him, the slowdown of court speeds over the past decade has made tennis more engaging and varied. Mouratoglou emphasized that long, tactical rallies are what keep fans interested, rather than quick points ending with powerful serves.

"Roger says he wants to see Carlos and Jannik playing on faster courts. I disagree, because that would lessen the excitement of the matches. It is the long rallies that give modern tennis its appeal.", Mouratoglou shared.

According to the French coach, if court speeds increased significantly, tennis would revert to an era where players with strong serves dominated completely. "Imagine having to return serves from Opelka, Zverev, or Shelton on fast courts—the matches would be very boring.", he added.

Mouratoglou also recalled that the trend to slow down courts actually began during the golden era of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic. He believes this change helped balance offense and defense, contributing to the sport’s harmonious development over many years.

The French coach thinks tennis does not need to return to a power-based style but should continue evolving towards strategy and endurance.

"Tennis might innovate in other ways—like shortening the service box or changing ball speed—but I don’t believe increasing court speed is the right direction.", Mouratoglou concluded.

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