In the midst of Simona Halep’s doping scandal, tennis fans brought back an interview in which Aravan Rezaei, a former student of Patrika Muratoglu, spoke about the Frenchman’s draconian training methods.

Patrik Muratoglu’s methods criticized by Aravan Rezai: “You can’t imagine what he did to me”

Former WTA No. 15 Rezai (now retired) claimed in 2020 that the coach puts too much pressure on the players without taking into account their mental health.

The Frenchwoman worked with Muratoglu in 2009-2010 and said he only wanted to get a result and would do anything to achieve his goal.

“I invited my friend Patrik Muratoglu to the tournament in Bali. We won the tournament and decided to work together. In the beginning I was still taught by my father and I worked with both of them. Patrick brought me a dose of professionalism and took me to practice on the best courts.

But sometimes he was too possessive. And he does not take responsibility. He pressured me to decide to face my parents. He put me face to face with them to get what he wanted: complete control. He wanted results, and he didn’t care how to get them.

He told me: “I promise you will be in the top ten. You must listen to me.” I trusted him completely. But it is not good for a man to turn a girl against her father, while he stands by and watches. He’s a keen tennis player, but I wouldn’t say he’s a great coach. He is a very good businessman.

But you have no idea what he did to me when I won the tournament in Madrid… I hardly ate, only drank a glass of milk a day. I didn’t even have breakfast. I barely picked up the phone. I was like in a prison. I would wake up at 6:00 and run for an hour or two. He made me do exercises right before the game. It was too much. People on his team, doctors and nutritionists, were telling him that I would injure myself if he continued like this. And he told them he didn’t care.

And he didn’t care about my mind either. He put a lot of pressure on me. I was very thin. I ate very little salad for each game. I only had a glass of milk and a salad in my stomach. Don’t let me eat anymore. He said I need to lose weight, but it’s impossible. When I was working with him I would hear “Patrick just won another tournament”. That’s all he wanted to be known.

Patrick could go on vacation when I was training, but I couldn’t take a day off (…) There were many arguments between my father and Muratoglu. Both pressured me. I started quarreling with my father and the relationship with him ended. Not only professional… I stopped communicating with my family. I isolated myself from them. And this situation destroyed me. I fell into depression and decided to stop training” – Aravana Rezai in 2020 for the Punto de Break.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced last Friday that Simona Halep has been provisionally suspended for failing a doping test at the 2022 US Open.

Shortly after the clarification, which flew around the world, Simona Halep said: “I was informed that I tested positive for a substance called roxadustat in an extremely small amount. I will fight to the end to prove that I have never knowingly taken a banned substance.” Moreover, the ex-WTA leader said that she felt “completely confused and betrayed”.

Patrick Muratoglu initially refused to comment on the situation with his student, and then published a message in which he expressed his support for the Romanian.

Patrick Muratoglu and Aravan Rezai in 2010

*photo source: REAU ALEXIS / Sipa Press / Profimedia

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