"Can we say Coco Gauff is a star?"- Naomi Osaka's coach Patrick Mouratoglou trolled by WTA player for controversial take on women's tennis

Naomi Osaka's coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, received heat from French WTA player, Alize Cornet, after Coco Gauff won her maiden title at the French Open. The famed coach trained the American at his academy when she was 10 years old and was crucial with his expertise in her formative years.

However, last week, Mouratoglou into controversy when he stated in a clip posted by him that players such as Gauff or Iga Swiatek are not superstars like Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova were during their time, while weighing in on the women's night session scheduling debate at the French Open.

"It's not only about leading players like Iga Swiatek, who is a four-time winner, and a three-time winner at the moment. She's not a superstar like Serena when she was playing or Sharapova when she was playing," he said.

During a show after Coco Gauff lifted the Coupe de Suzanne Lenglen on France TV, Mouratoglou was trolled by Cornet over his skewed remark on stardom as she asked him:

“Patrick, can we say that Gauff is a star?" to which the other panelists laughed.

Mouratoglou also defended the French Open organizers as they refrained from scheduling women's matches at primetime slots in the tournament.

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Patrick Mouratoglou sides with French Open organizers after they snub Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek of primetime slots

Patrick Mouratoglou greets Coco Gauff at the French Open 2025 - Image Source: Getty

Patrick Mouratoglou spoke in favor of French Open tournament director, Amelie Mauresmo, even after she snubbed Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka's matches from the prime nightime slot at the French Open.

In his video posted on Instagram, Mouratoglou sided with Mauresmo, saying that they have a business side of the tournament to consider and putting men's matches at night increases ticket sales, which in turn gives the tournament more business due to the increased duration of men's matches as compared to women's.

"There are a lot of positive things about treating women equally, but Amelie Mauresmo has responsibilities as a tournament director to make sure the fans are happy and the tournament makes the expected money," he said.

The Frenchman further suggested that a plausible way for people to end these conversations of duration would be to let women play five-setters as well. He claimed that years of his training of notable WTA stars has given him the idea that they too can play long matches.

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Edited by Pritha Ghosh