"Simona Halep gave her independence to Patrick Mouratoglou" - Serena Williams' ex-coach makes stunning claim in light of Iga Swiatek's doping test row

In light of Iga Swiatek’s doping test row, Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs assessed Simona Halep’s case. She made a stunning claim involving Halep’s then-coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for low traces of a prohibited substance called “trimetazidine” or TMZ. The Pole was handed a “no significant fault or negligence verdict” after she proved that the substance entered her system through contaminated melatonin pills.

Stubbs addressed the controversy on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, siding with the five-time Grand Slam champion and emphasizing her alert nature.

"She’s so nervous about everything. She’d be like, ‘are you sure I’m allowed to take this?’" she said, seemingly opining that Iga Swiatek couldn’t have been at fault.

Iga Swiatek’s is the third such high profile case involving a World No. 1 ranked tennis player in the past two years after Jannik Sinner earlier this year and Simona Halep in 2022. In Halep’s case, she was issued a two-year suspension after testing positive for a blood booster called “Roxadustat.”

The ban was then extended to four years after a second doping violation involving irregularities in her athlete biological passport came to light. Simona Halep got her suspension reduced to nine months after her CAS appeal earlier this year.

Rennae Stubbs noted that like Swiatek, Halep is meticulous, according to her ex-coach Darren Cahill, who now coaches Sinner.

"That’s the thing about Simona. That was the one thing Darren said. He’s like, ‘She would ask what is in this; what is that?’"

Simona Halep and Cahill announced their split in late 2021. She hired Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou in April 2022, just four months before her failed doping test. Stubbs opined that the two-time Grand Slam champion placed her complete trust in the French Open and gave up her independence.

"But then when (Simona Halep) started working with Patrick, it’s like – it seems like she wasn’t as diligent with her own independence. It was like she gave her independence of herself and her choice to Patrick," she claimed. "Whereas Darren was always like, she was so on top of it with the Romanian guy (coach Adrian Marcu) that was with her and Darren, and everyone. She would be like, ‘are you sure this is okay?’

"Seems to me like she gave way too much of her power. I think that’s where she got f**ked when it came to working with Patrick and his team. She sort of gave over her independence of ‘what am I taking; what am I doing?’ to him," she added.

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"Why anyone would want to work with Patrick Mouratoglou, I don't know" – Rennae Stubbs on Simona Halep's ex-coach

Naomi Osaka pictured with Patrick Mouratoglou at the 2024 China Open - Image Source: Getty

During Simona Halep’s doping investigation, Patrick Mouratoglou began coaching Holger Rune. Halep eventually announced her separation from the French coach. Mouratoglou’s on-and-off partnership with Rune reached its end after Wimbledon 2024.

Late last year, Patrick Mouratoglou also said he “feels responsible” for Halep’s ordeal, considering the contamination came from a supplement he and his team provided to the Romanian. In that regard, Rennae Stubbs said in the aforementioned podcast:

"He has come out eventually – took him forever to say, ‘It’s on me because this is my team that I brought in.’"

After leaving Holger Rune’s team, Mouratoglou didn’t wait too long for his next project. Naomi Osaka, who parted ways with Wim Fissette (Iga Swiatek’s new coach) in September, hired the Frenchman as her new coach. This, however, didn't sit well with Rennae Stubbs, according to her latest remark.

"So why anyone would want to work with him anymore, I don’t know. Because that to me is such a bad look," she said on her podcast.