Australian Open 2019: Lucas Pouille congratulates coach Amelie Mauresmo

The semifinalist of the Australian Open, Lucas Pouille, praised coach Amélie Mauresmo and thinks that a larger number of male tennis players should employ female coaches.

Pouille, 24, beat 16th seed Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal.

At the end of 2018, Apulia began working with Mauresmo, a two-time Grand Slam winner, who had previously coached Andy Murray between 2014 and 2016.

"She is a champion and she is a very good coach," said Pouille.

"Men train women, so why not the opposite? It's not about being a man or a woman, but knowing about tennis and having the right state of mind." mind.

"She brings a lot of confidence to my game. The goal is not to reach the final, the semi-finals, but to improve my tennis, to put what I'm working during the game. training in the match.

"I'm just trying to focus on my game, not the consequences or the results."

Mauresmo, 39, helped Murray reach the final of the Australian Open and the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon during their two years of collaboration.

She was expected to become captain of the men's Davis Cup in 2019, but instead chose to work with Pouille, who has won just five Grand Slam games in 2018.

The French, who will face world number one Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, said he had "lost that joy of being on the pitch" last year.

"You lose a match, two games, three games, then you lose confidence in yourself and it's hard to come back when you do not like it," said Puglia.

"I took a little time to think about what I wanted." I said, "OK, you may still have 10 years on tour, you want to spend it like that or Do you want to enjoy it? "

Puglia thinks that Mauresmo, who won the women's singles at the Australian Open in 2006, helped her regain her love of the sport.

"She focused on each ball during practice, but at the same time, it reigns a fresh atmosphere," added the Frenchman. "We are not too serious when we are on the bench – we can laugh, we can make jokes.

"Once we are going to hit the balls, we are really there." It's good to have a good balance.

"I did not expect to reach the semi-finals or the quarterfinals, I just wanted to go step by step, the first goal of the tournament was to win the first game, etc."