Serena Williams’ former coach: Margaret Court’s all-time record is from “another era”

Patrick Mouratoglou has reignited the GOAT debate in women’s tennis after declaring that Margaret Court’s 24 major titles, the all-time women’s singles record, came from “a time when tennis was not even a professional sport.”

It’s the latest iteration of a long-held debate among tennis fans and media—and a topic that’s been bitterly disputed by the few players elite enough to be in the conversation.

Court owns the sport’s all-time record with 24 major trophies, but only 11 of those came during tennis’ Open era which allowed professional players to compete alongside amateurs. That’s why Stefanie Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slams—all won during the Open era—has been widely considered the major record to beat in women’s tennis, until it was eventually eclipsed by Serena Williams’ 23rd Grand Slam victory at the 2017 Australian Open.

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But many tennis fans claim that when Williams was closing in on Graf’s record, the ‘women’s tennis GOAT’ goal posts were moved as Court’s historic record suddenly regained prominence. Serena eventually retired in 2022 having won the most Grand Slams in the Open era—but also with a sense of unfinished business at coming up one short of the all-time record.

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“Steffi Graf was considered the GOAT with 22 Slams ... until Serena Williams got 23,” a social media user named Puneet wrote on Thursday. “All of a sudden, Margaret Court with her mix of Open Era and pre-Open Era titles (became) the best-ever.

“I am very curious why (Williams) and perhaps (Mouratoglou) didn't talk about this openly?” she added, tagging their accounts. “…Court's 24 Slams simply do not count.”

Mouratoglou, who currently works with Naomi Osaka, became well-acquainted with the women’s GOAT debate during the American’s climb up the Grand Slam leaderboard. The French tennis coach’s response was the same as it’s always been since the conversation hit a fever pitch between 2015 and 2019.

“I said it a million times. With all due respect, the record of Margaret Court was established at a time when tennis was not even a professional sport,” Mouratoglou responded on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Winning (a Grand Slam) at that time can never be considered as winning (a Grand Slam) in the Open era.”

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In fact, Mouratoglou’s response was almost exactly what he told journalists when asked a similar question back in 2017, shortly after Williams tied Graf’s record in Melbourne:

“With all the respect to Margaret Court, it’s another era,” Mouratoglou said. “Of course the record is there, and we definitely want to beat it, but there is a professional era, and the record was Steffi Graf.”

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Mouratoglou coached Williams for about a decade between 2012 and 2022, and the pair racked up 10 Grand Slam victories together along with a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Williams won her last Grand Slam title in 2017, and reached a further four major finals after returning from maternity leave.

In 2023, Novak Djokovic equalled Court’s all-time count with his 24th major triumph at the US Open. The former world No. 1 is set to face Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open semifinals on Friday, as he seeks to stand alone in the tennis history books with a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam singles title.