WIMBLEDON -- Serena Williams' coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, said Saturday the show of anger in her second-round match was a good sign for the world No. 1.
"I cannot say it is positive to break a racket, but what is positive is that she expresses that anger, that kind of refusal to lose," Mouratoglou said.
After eight squandered break-point chances in a sloppy opening set against American Christina McHale on Friday, Williams repeatedly smashed her racket to the turf on the changeover chair, then flung it behind her, where it eventually landed in the lap of a TV cameraman. Mouratoglou said it immediately ignited a spark in Williams, who was fined $10,000 for the incident.
"When she touches that emotion in herself, then she's able to lift her level, and that's what she did in the second set," he said. "So that's why I'm expecting that to happen when she needs it. When she doesn't need it, she doesn't need it. But when she needs it, she has to find it within herself."
Williams, who ended up signing the racket and giving it to a courtside fan, entered Wimbledon having fallen short of the title in her past three Grand Slam tournaments. At the French Open, she lost the title match to Garbine Muguruza.
"I don't know what she was trying to do at the French, but clearly she didn't express her champion's mind or attitude," Mouratoglou said. "At the French, she was too calm. What we used to see in Serena when she's in trouble is that rage that makes her lift that level, and she couldn't find that at the French. She couldn't find it either actually at Miami or Indian Wells.
"I don't want to use the word 'disappear,' because [her intensity] is there. It's just that when she doesn't reach out to that feeling or emotion, it's something that is important for her," Mouratoglou added. "Tennis-wise, she's playing OK. I don't see her playing as good as last year, for example. But this part is missing, and this part is why Serena is Serena."