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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nSerena Williams\u2019s former coach has opened up about the fights he used to have with the 23-time Grand Slam champion over her weight.<\/p>\n
In an interview with The Guardian<\/em> published Thursday, Patrick Mouratoglou reflected on Williams\u2019s comments on Today <\/em>where she explained that her coach said she needed to lose weight to be a better tennis player. <\/p>\n\u201cOh I remember it very<\/em> well,\u201d the coach told the publication, who helped Williams win 10 of her Grand Slam titles. \u201cIt was after the pregnancy \u2013 not right <\/em>after; I know these things take time. I told her: \u2018Listen, this is not a comment on how you look. It\u2019s not my problem.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\nThe now-retired tennis player shares two children with her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. The couple has two daughters: Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., 8, and Adira Ohanian, 2. With the birth of both children, Williams had struggled to lose weight. <\/p>\n
Her former coach continued: \u201cBut tennis is a sport in which you can\u2019t afford to be overweight. First of all, the pressure on your joints and everything is so big that your chances [of injury] become much higher. The second thing is it\u2019s a sport in which you change directions all the time and with a lot of speed. Even one kilo overweight is a lot. <\/p>\n
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Williams struggled to lose weight after giving birth to her two daughters (AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cWhen you go full speed in one direction with one kilo extra and then need to stop and come back, the time that you lose is really important,\u201d he continued. \u201cJust look at the best players in the world \u2013 [Carlos] Alcaraz, [Jannik] Sinner, [Novak] Djokovic. Think about their movement. The weight was affecting her movement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mouratoglou said that because of her age, it would be more difficult for Williams\u2019s body to adjust to the way it was before her pregnancy. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a few fights about it. I remember she did not like when I said that because she thought I was judging her,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I kept telling her, I don\u2019t care about your look. It\u2019s not my job. My job is your tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last month, Williams revealed she used a GLP-1 \u2014 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy that impact satiety \u2014 to help her achieve her weight loss goals and has since lost 31 pounds. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel great,\u201d she told the People<\/em> at the time. \u201cI feel really good and healthy. I feel light physically and light mentally.\u201d<\/p>\nShe also acknowledged the controversy surrounding the use of GLP-1s, but remained adamant that the medication added to her healthy eating and workout routines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just can do more. I\u2019m more active,\u201d Williams said of shedding the weight. \u201cMy joints don\u2019t hurt as much. I just feel like something as simple as just getting down is a lot easier for me. And I do it a lot faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mouratoglou was asked by The Guardian<\/em> if he wished Williams had started taking a GLP-1 medication years ago. He responded, \u201cI\u2019m not the type of guy who\u2019s looking back and having regrets. But, yeah, if she would have been in this position physically, the results would have been better.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Serena Williams\u2019s former coach has opened up about the fights he used to have with the 23-time Grand Slam champion over her weight. In an interview with The Guardian published Thursday, Patrick Mouratoglou reflected on Williams\u2019s comments on Today where she explained that her coach said she needed to lose weight to be a better tennis player. \u201cOh I remember it very well,\u201d the coach told the publication, who helped Williams win 10 of her Grand Slam titles. \u201cIt was after the pregnancy \u2013 not right after; I know these things take time. I told her: \u2018Listen, this is not a comment on how you look. It\u2019s not my problem.\u2019\u201d The now-retired tennis player shares two children with her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. The couple has two daughters: Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., 8, and Adira Ohanian, 2. With the birth of both children, Williams had struggled to lose weight. Her former coach continued: \u201cBut tennis is a sport in which you can\u2019t afford to be overweight. First of all, the pressure on your joints and everything is …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}