Patrick Mouratoglou is likely to skip the US Open, having split with the player he was coaching recently.
After less than a year together, Mouratoglou and Naomi Osaka parted ways ahead of the 2025 Canadian Open tournament.
The pair enjoyed their best result together at the 2025 ASB Classic, when Osaka retired injured whilst leading Clara Tauson by a set-to-love in the final.
Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images
It was at the Grand Slams where Osaka struggled, however, losing before the fourth round of all three majors in 2025.
The Japanese star will be hoping to bounce back at the US Open next month, as Mouratoglou now gives his verdict on the conditions at Flushing Meadows.
Patrick Mouratoglou says ‘politics’ have made the US Open courts slower
Looking ahead to the North American hard-court season, Mouratoglou reacted to several statements on Instagram, answering true or false.
The first of which claimed that courts in the United States are faster than other hard courts around the world.
“False. All the courts are different, first of all. It’s not because it’s in the US or not,” he said.
“I think they’re not especially faster than the ones in Australia.
“In the past, the US Open was much faster than in Australia. But, you know, these new politics to have a unified speed… I think they’re very close.
“They’re not the same, but in terms of speed, there’s not such a difference.”
The Frenchman then commented on two statements concerning the impact hard courts have on players’ bodies.
- “Hard courts are the most demanding for the body.”
“True, of course, it’s much harder and tougher on the body compared to clay or grass,” said Mouratoglou.
- “You need specific prevention before hard courts.”
“True. Before starting hard courts, you need to do it step by step, because your body is going to suffer at the start from it, and you need prevention,” he said.
Photo by Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
However, despite that being as it may, Mouratoglou believes hard courts are the favorite surface for the majority of players.
“The majority of players are more comfortable on hard courts because they play on hard courts most of the year, and they’re used to doing that,” he said.
“Now, when they have the qualities to be extremely good on clay, or the qualities to be extremely good on grass, there is a difference.
“I already have names that pop up, players who do by far their best results on grass every year, or others that do by far their best results on clay.
“They’re not the majority, that’s a minority.”
Mouratoglou then reacted to a statement claiming hard courts are the most ‘fair’ surface.
“Fair? No, false. There’s nothing fair. All the surfaces have their specificity; some players are better on one or the other one,” he said.
“What is unfair is that 80% of the season is on hard courts. This is not fair. If you want to be fair with everyone, there should be 25% indoor, 25% on hard, 25% on clay, 25% on grass. That would be fair to everyone.”
The 55-year-old believes the split between surfaces is ‘unfair’, but is 80% of the season really played on hard courts?
The surface split between ‘big’ ATP tournaments
On the ATP Tour, ‘big’ tournaments consist of the four Grand Slams, the nine Masters 1000 events, and the ATP Finals.
ATP big tournaments
Of the 14 ‘big’ tournaments on tour, nine are played on hard courts (64%), four are played on clay courts (29%), and one is played on grass (7%).
The split might not be as drastic as Mouratoglou suggested, but the tournaments certainly haven’t been distributed evenly between surfaces.
A heavy reliance on hard-court events clearly benefits players who are better-suited to the surface, whilst grass-court specialists, for example, have been put at a disadvantage.
Only time will tell if we will see a redistribution of events in the future, but it will certainly be something to look out for.