Serena Williams has developed a French connection besides her Paris flat, the five-time Wimbledon winner quietly building a coaching consultation relationship with Patrick Mouratoglou.

Williams spent time at his academy near Paris after one of the worst losses of her career in May when she exited in the opening round of Roland Garros, only to come back and win another Wimbledon crowd a month later.

The 30-year-old American, who swept past tenacious teenager Nicole Gibbs 6-2, 6-1 in her opening match at the WTA Stanford Classic, is reluctant to delve too deeply into the apparently continuing role for the Frenchman, but has revealed:

“I love Paris and I spend a lot of time there. I have a place there. I’ve been kind of almost living there a lot. I found a great facility and I know Patrick and he’s a great guy.

“I loved working with him while I was in Paris.”

The American said that the Paris loss affected her deeply.

“It puts doubts in your mind, but that is normal,” she said. “It affected me more than any other in my career. You have to climb back out if you can.”

Williams, who has always been “coached” by one of her parents throughout a career that now includes 14 Grand Slam singles titles, is quick to define her relationship as an advisory one and insists that her parents are considered as her true mentors.

“My dad is always out there on the court, as well as my mom,” she said at Wimbledon. “My dad is my coach. He has had a great formula, I think, in the past decade or more. It works.”

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