Serena Williams' coach reveals they had FIGHTS about her post-pregnancy weight after tennis star's drug revelation

Serena Williams' former coach has revealed that they had 'a few fights' over her post-pregnancy weight. 

The 23-time Grand Slam winner has embarked on a drastic weight loss journey and previously revealed that she has shed 31 pounds over the course of the past year.

However, the 43-year-old has had a helping hand along the way, admitting that she has been using weight loss drug Zepbound, a GLP-1 medication.

The tennis icon, who stepped away from the sport after the 2022 US Open, said that she began to struggle with her weight after becoming a mother for the first time with the birth of her eldest daughter, Alexis Olympia, in 2017. 

She also dealt with similar postpartum struggles over the changes to her body following the birth of her second daughter Adira River in August 2023. 

Now, her former coach Patrick Mouratoglou has revealed that he had 'fights' with Williams over her weight following her pregnancy. 

Speaking on Today, Mouratoglou said: 'Oh I remember it very well. It was after the pregnancy – not right after; I know these things take time. I told her: 'Listen, this is not a comment on how you look. It's not my problem.' 

'But tennis is a sport in which you can't afford to be overweight. First of all, the pressure on your joints and everything is so big that your chances become much higher. 

'The second thing is it's a sport in which you change directions all the time and with a lot of speed. Even one kilo overweight is a lot. 

'When you go full speed in one direction with one kilo extra and then need to stop and come back, the time that you lose is really important. 

'Just look at the best players in the world – [Carlos] Alcaraz, [Jannik] Sinner, [Novak] Djokovic. Think about their movement. The weight was affecting her movement.' 

Last month, Williams sparked speculation that she had been using popular drug Ozempic after sharing her post-workout gym selfies, which showed off her ripped physique.

Mouratoglou continued: 'In Serena's case, she was older – so of course the body is not going to bounce back the same as before, and the risk of injury is even bigger.

'We had a few fights about it. I remember she did not like when I said that because she thought I was judging her. But I kept telling her, I don't care about your look. 

'It's not my job. My job is your tennis. If you want to come back to the top and make history, then we have to be very efficient on every level – including this one, which for me was the key element.' 

Williams won 10 of her 23 grand slam singles titles after hiring Mouratoglou. 

Last month, Williams explained that she would go through quick bursts of weight loss only for her weight to then remain stagnant regardless of the healthy lifestyle she was accustomed to maintaining as a professional athlete.

That's when she approached health care company Ro, for which she is a paid spokesperson and her husband is an investor in, for guidance on GLP-1 medication.

GLP-1 is a natural hormone that helps regulate blood sugar and appetite that is found in popular weight loss medication brands such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro as well as Zepbound. 

'I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained,' she told People. 'It was crazy because I'd never been in a place like that in my life where I worked so hard, ate so healthy and could never get down to where I needed to be at.'

'I had never taken shortcuts in my career and always worked really hard. I know what it takes to be the best,' she added. 'So it was very frustrating to do all the same things and never be able to change that number on the scale or the way my body looked.'

She claimed that the drug helped enhanced the healthy and fit practices she was already implementing into her routine.

Williams said that it has left her feeling more active, her joints in less pain and feeling 'pretty good.'

Williams has always been a prominent figure in the public eye both on and off the court. 

Over her illustrious career, Serena has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles — the most by any female player in the Open Era — and spent 319 weeks as world No. 1. 

She last picked up a racket competitively at the US Open - which begins this week -  back in 2022 when she fell short to Ajla Tomljanovic in a grueling three-hour, three-set thriller.