Pouille flips the script in Oz with Mauresmo by his side

Going into this year's Australian Open, Lucas Pouille had never won a main-draw match in Melbourne. His 0-5 record has been blown to bits as he's made his way to his first career Grand Slam semifinal.

He has scored wins over Maximilian Marterer, Alexei Popyrin, Borna Coric and Milos Raonic, and faces Novak Djokovic next. The world No. 31 couldn't have seen this dream fortnight coming.

That's because the Frenchman's first-round win over Mikhail Kukushkin marked his first victory of 2019 after losing all three of his singles matches at the Hopman Cup and falling in the first round in Sydney.

"Coming here the goal was not, OK, let's try to be second week or quarterfinal," the 24-year-old Pouille said. "It was really to take step by step and try to focus on my game, what I needed to put on the court, trying to, yeah, do what I worked so much during the preseason."

During the preseason, Pouille began working with a new coach—someone very popular in the tennis world—Amelie Mauresmo.

Seeing an ATP player coached by a female shouldn't be cause for speculation, especially given Mauresmo's extensive resume. Pouille agrees.

"Men are coaching women, so why not the contrary? I mean, I don't get it," Pouille said. "As I said again and again, it's not about being a man or a woman, it's about knowing tennis, about having the good state of mind. She's a champion. She's a great coach."

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