Serena Williams’ former coach reacts to viral video of robot playing tennis

A video of a humanoid robot that was taught to play tenniswent viral.

The robot was reportedly only taught for five hours and could maintain lengthy rallies with a human.

It wasn’t playing Grand Slam-winning tennis, by any means, but it was still interesting to see!

Legendary tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou has now shared his thoughts on the video.

Patrick Mouratoglou was impressed by viral tennis robot even though it has ‘terrible technique’

Serena Williams’ former coach delivered his verdict on Instagram.

“I think he needs some coaching, definitely!” said Mouratoglou.

“First of all, I think it’s great, because it’s the first image, ever, that I’ve seen of a robot playing tennis, and it says that it’s only five hours of data to be able to have that result.

“If it’s true, it’s clearly impressive.

“And it shows the potential, because this robot learned the technique by watching videos.”

Mouratoglou wasn’t too happy with the robot’s technique, though.

“I don’t know, maybe they showed him videos of beginners, because if you watch [Roger] Federer, you’re supposed to copy and you play like that, there is a problem!” he said.

“Even though his technique is terrible, the grips are wrong, the lower part of the body is way better than the upper part.

“He has a very good distance between his feet, he’s very balanced, and I don’t know if this has been taught to him, but when you see that after five hours and no technique, you can imagine that teaching him the proper technique, he will play incredible tennis.

“And what is interesting is that he plays like a beginner would play. So it’s very similar to a human.”

Only time will tell if tennis robots can become strong enough to defeat the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka…

Is Patrick Mouratoglou coaching anyone?

Mouratoglou has coached several tennis stars over the years, including Williams and Naomi Osaka.

However, the Frenchman has been out of work since his split from Osaka last year.

Taking a break from the tour, Mouratoglou has allocated more time to his tennis academy and the Ultimate Tennis Showdown.

The next UTS event is set for Nimes, France, next month.

Casper Ruud, Ugo Humbert, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Karen Khachanov, Alexander Bublik, Grigor Dimitrov, Andrey Rublev, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina make up the eight-man lineup.

The action begins on April 3.