Patrick Mouratoglou has named an interesting issue that he thinks has plagued Carlos Alcaraz so far in his career as Serena Williams’ former coach believes the Spaniard tends to get emotionally exhausted and someone needs to figure out a way to take care of that.
After missing the 2023 Australian Open due to an injury, the Spaniard won six of his 10 first tournaments played that season – including Wimbledon. But just when it seemed that the 21-year-old replaced Novak Djokovic as the most dominant figure in the sport, he started to struggle and didn’t win a title until this year’s March.
Now, Alcaraz appears to be going through something similar again. After impressively winning back-to-back Grand Slams at the French Open and Wimbledon, the Spanish four-time Major winner was stunned in his Cincinnati Masters opener and also suffered a shock US Open second-round loss.
“He put everything, mentally, emotionally, of course, physically and tennis-wise, on the table to win them, because it’s got counted so much. And when it counts so much for you, emotionally, it’s draining. He was exhausted, mentally exhausted. He’s very, very emotional,” Mouratoglou said in a video uploaded on Instagram.
Mouratoglou: Alcaraz has already cramped way too many times…
If you remember well, the Spaniard was going toe to toe with Djokovic in the 2023 French Open semifinal and was tied to one set apiece when he suffered from full-body cramps and went on to lose in four sets. Afterward, Alcaraz admitted that the stress and anxiety he was feeling caused those cramps.
“We’ve seen him cramp many times already. If you look at Roger, Rafa, and Novak, have you seen them cramp once in a match? All their careers? He cramped many times already, only at 20. He’s an emotional player. So I think that knowing that, in the future, they will have to think of a calendar where he has enough rest—mental rest, not physical rest—mental rest. I think it is very important for his future,” Mouratoglou added.
It remains to be seen if the world No. 3 can bounce back in his next couple of years and put a disappointing summer on hard courts behind him.
Leave a Reply