Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou had written off her chances of winning this year’s French Open even before she lost to fellow American Sofia Kenin in the third round on Saturday.
“Honestly, if Serena didn’t lose this one she would probably lose next round, or when the top players would have been the other side of the court,” said Mouratoglou, talking in an interview with broadcaster Eurosport.
“Of course it’s a disappointment, but in a way it had to happen. She knew she had little chance of winning this year’s French Open,” he added.
Williams’ time on court has been limited to a handful of matches since the Australian Open because of a knee injury.
“First of all, she knew she was not coming to this tournament being prepared the way she wanted to because of the big injury in Miami,” Mouratoglou said.
“For many weeks she was not able to do anything because she had to recover.
“So the time she had to prepare was much too short. She did her…
