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The attack came frontal and direct. Jean-Francois Caujolle, CEO of the ATP tournament in Marseille, has sensationally and harshly attacked Patrick Mouratoglou, accusing him of serving his interests and not the interests of tennis.
Caujolle blamed the former coach of Serena Williams and Simona Halep for the timing of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown. Caujolle in fact underlined without too many problems how Mouratoglou influenced the players' participation in the ATP 250 event.
According to Caujolle, UTS players could have played in the Open 13, considering the overlap of the tournaments.
"What is the interest of the promoter Mouratoglou? For me he doesn't promote tennis. He just promotes his interests. There is a UTS stadium in Oslo, with some players who could have come to the Open 13. And this offends, yes."
Caujolle : "Il y a une étape de l'UTS à Oslo, avec certains joueurs qui auraient pu venir à l'Open 13. Et ça m'offusque, oui. Quel est l'intérêt du promoteur Mouratoglou ? Pour moi, il ne promeut pas le tennis. Il promeut ses propres intérêts, c'est tout." https://t.co/iZdYwvb9Yn
— Quentin Moynet (@QuentinMoynet) February 6, 2024
The words that divided tennis fans: Mouratoglou crowns Djokovic and snubs Federer
A few weeks ago, Mouratoglou returned to talk about the always heated and in the foreground debate about the GOAT. The French coach has already said his opinion several times, recognizing Novak Djokovic as the strongest tennis player of all time, obviously without belittling the other two champions, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.
Through a post, the former coach of the Williams sisters gave a new point of view to the discussion: "There is no doubt that Roger's elegance and inspired tennis are unparalleled, just as there is no discussion about who he is the GOAT. In this case, sporting results are the only measure."
An opinion in this case not properly specified, but which is very clear to those who know his thoughts.
Previously, the French coach had said about the issue: "I often hear that what Roger did between 2017 and 2019 is as good as what Novak is doing now and that Roger was a better player in 2017 and 2018 than the years ago.
However, I believe there is a big difference. I think Federer has been a better tennis player since 2018, actually for one main reason: his backhand. He made an important decision and started catching the ball much earlier with his backhand and returning it flat instead of cut.
Roger couldn't win three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, be consistent throughout the year and really be a step above all the players. This did not happen. Nole makes the difference: physically today he is as good as when he was 26."