Analysis: Good news for Halep, new territory for Williams

After 10 years of stability in coaching terms, the prospect of Williams returning without Mouratoglou in her box will be new territory.

Mouratoglou has established himself as the leading and most high-profile coach in tennis since linking up with Williams. His academy in the French Riviera is the sport’s premier base for up and coming stars, and he has overseen the development of world no 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas as well as US teenage talent Coco Gauff.

Never shying from the limelight, Mouratoglou is known for his colourful character, which has landed him in trouble during his tenure with Williams – most famously at the US Open final in 2018.

The timing of his decision to link up with Halep suggests that Williams could make her comeback at SW19 this summer without him, unless his agreement with Halep is only for the clay-court season. 

The news of her return was welcomed regardless. Though she has remained in the public eye, mainly to promote “King Richard” the Hollywood biopic of her family’s life story, until Thursday, Williams had provided limited tennis updates in recent months.

The only hint she had shared was in an interview with CNN last month, when she said she had “not given up” on her goal of reaching that 24th major title – the only record that eludes her.

But there was speculation last season, after her tearful exit at the Australian Open, that she was on the brink of retiring and the injury troubles that followed that summer have not abated those rumours. She has struggled to consistently re-establish her place at the top of tennis since returning from maternity leave in 2018 and her 10-month absence since Wimbledon last year has caused her ranking to plummet to 246. 

Considering Williams usually reserves her court-time for only a handful of the most important events, any potential route to a future title will be all the more difficult unseeded. And, like Roger Federer, Williams turned 40 last summer so time is not on her side. 

Her Wimbledon return could mark one of her final opportunities to secure No. 24, and will provide an exciting narrative for the women’s game, which lost its world No 1 Ash Barty last month after her shock decision to retire at 25. 

On the other side of this story, Halep securing Mouratoglou’s tutelage full-time is a major coup. At 30, Halep is the same age Williams was when she first started working with Mouratoglou, and she has been on the hunt for a replacement since splitting from long-time coach Darren Cahill last September. 

Injuries over the past year have pushed her down to 20th in the rankings, and Mouratoglou may be able to provide the consistent messaging to help her rekindle the form that saw her win the 2018 French Open and beat Williams to the Wimbledon title the following year.