Amélie Mauresmo: Lesbian tennis coach behind Lucas Pouille and Andy Murray
Andy Murray’s (now former) coach Amelie Mauresmo during a pratice session prior to the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 27, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Former tennis player Amélie Mauresmo is being praised for her excellent work as a tennis coach.
Amélie Mauresmo – who served as head coach to the UK’s top player Andy Murray from 2014 to 2016 – has been coaching Lucas Pouille since December 2018.
After a recent win over Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Tuesday (22 January), tennis player Pouille had high praise for his coach, Mauresmo.
Amelie Mauresmo looks on in the men’s semi final match between Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Lucas Pouille of France during day 12 of the 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 25, 2019. (Quinn Rooney/Getty)
According to Reuters, Pouille said: “I think she’s bringing a lot of confidence to my game, to my personality, to my state of mind.
“The goal is not to reach the final or the semifinal, but to improve my tennis, to put what I work on during the practice in the match. That gives me less pressure. I’m just trying to focus on my game, not on the consequences and the results.”
“It’s not about being a woman or a man. It doesn’t matter. You just have to know what you’re doing, and she does.”
—Lucas Pouille
Similarly, Murray had spoken highly about his former tennis coach: “She was someone who struggled with nerves and conquered them later in her career.
“Someone like that can help more than someone who hasn’t had those issues before.
“You can talk about Amelie’s accomplishments, she won a lot. She was No 1 in the world, she won multiple Grand Slams, she had a creative game style.
“As a person, she is very nice, very easy to communicate with, but she is firm as well. So those are the reasons I wanted to give it a shot.”
In tennis, should more men hire more women’s coaches?
During the on-court interview at the Australian Open, Poullie said: “She has the right state of mind, she knows everything about tennis. It’s not about being a woman or a man. It doesn’t matter. You just have to know what you’re doing, and she does.”
Back when Murray was coached by Mauresmo, he had also faced questions regarding his coach’s gender.
He had received text messages from tennis players shocked at his decision to hire Mauresmo. One had even said he may consider hiring a dog next.
Murray responded: “I think Amelie brings with her experience and tactical expertise and will push us all to improve. Everyone I know talks very highly of Amelie, as a person and coach.”
Amélie Mauresmo’s personal life
Amelie Mauresmo was born Laye, France, on July 5, 1979.
She came out as a lesbian in 1999 after becoming the world #1 ranked female tennis player. But unlike previous tennis players to come out, she didn’t lose sponsorships.
In 2015, Mauresmo announced that she was expecting a baby with her partner over Twitter.
She revealed her pregnancy in both English and French, writing: “Bébé arrivera en août ! #enceinte/Baby will be here in august ! #pregnant So happy.”
Bébé arrivera en août ! #enceinte
Baby will be here in august ! #pregnant
So happy pic.twitter.com/t6lEkYGSKQ
— AmelieMauresmo (@AmeMauresmo) April 9, 2015
On August 16, 2015, Murray announced that she had given birth to a baby boy. She gave birth to her second child in 2017.
