Simona Halep announces Patrick Mouratoglou as full-time coach as Serena Williams hiatus continues

WATCH: At her most recent event, Halep rolled into the BNP Paribas Open semifinals but ran into an on-fire Iga Swiatek.

Simona Halep revealed Patrick Mouratoglou would serve as her full-time coach effective immediately, sharing the news on social media Thursday morning.

“Excited for a new chapter,” tweeted the former world No. 1.

Halep has been without a coach since parting with both Daniel Dobre and Adrian Marcu—itself a fairly new arrangement in the wake of her split with longtime coach Darren Cahill—following the Australian Open, and initially opted to coach herself through the Middle East swing.

After an early exit at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, Halep posted images from a Mouratoglou Academy practice session. It was then that Halep, according to Mouratoglou, first asked to work together, but the French coach declined due to his commitments to 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams. Halep instead traveled to the BNP Paribas Open with Academy coach Morgan Bourbon, reaching the semifinals.

Mouratoglou, who has worked with the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Coco Gauff in a consulting capacity, has made 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams his main coaching priority since the pair teamed up in the summer of 2012—famously after her first-round Roland Garros defeat to Virginie Razzano.

Williams went on to win four of the next six majors and return to No. 1 in the WTA rankings for the first time since missing nearly a year of action due to a foot injury and subsequent pulmonary embolism in 2010.

Though she already owns the Open Era record for major victories, the American has been in search of an all-time record-tying 24th major since returning to tour in 2018 after the birth of her first child, falling just short in four finals—including one to Halep at Wimbledon in 2019.

A leg injury incurred at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, however, has kept her off court since last July, and Mouratoglou's ability to coach Halep fuels speculation that Williams’ hiatus will continue for at least the next few months.

“I had a conversation with Serena, and the door opened for me, at least short term, to work with someone else,” Mouratoglou wrote in a statement.

For her part, Serena teased a potential Wimbledon return at a Bitcoin conference:

A former French Open champion, Halep returned to the Top 20 after hitting a nine-year ranking low of No. 27 earlier this season, and will have opportunities to rise even higher in the rankings given she missed both Roland Garros and Wimbledon due to an acute leg injury of her own. Halep withdrew from the Miami Open due to another small leg tear, but aims to be back in time for the clay-court season.