Mouratoglou reveals what impressed him about Stefanos Tsitsipas
In a column for Tennis Head Serena Williams's coach Patrick Mouratoglou praised the 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas's potential. Tsitsipas achieved a career-high ranking at No. 15 at the end of last year and he trains at the Mouratoglou Academy.
The French coach recalled when he first saw Tsitsipas through a YouTube video at the Orange Bowl: 'What I particularly liked was the fact that he was so focused on what he was doing. You could see from his eyes that he had a fierce will to win and was completely into the match. He was like a lion focused on the prey it was about to attack as he prepared to pounce on anything that was short, take the ball early and come into the net. That total focus is something you see in nearly all the top players. I also liked his general style of play, so I got in touch with his father, who was also his coach, and suggested that they come to my academy for a week. They duly came – and have never left."
Mouratoglou added: "Stefanos is naturally a very good athlete. He has a good body for sport and for tennis in particular. He’s tall and he’s light, which is important, because changing direction quickly is one of the most important things in our sport. Stefanos also has great natural abilities. He’s fast, he’s explosive and he’s a good all-round athlete. However, if you want to reach the top in tennis it’s important to build up your body, especially when you’re young. You will put your body through a lot during your career and push it to its limits. It’s not something that is natural, so you have to build the body to enable it to deal with all of that. I knew from the start that this would be a crucial part of Stefanos’ future development."
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2M7lzfV
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