Patrick Mouratoglou reveals what Carlos Alcaraz does better than both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
Patrick Mouratoglou believes that Carlos Alcaraz’s variety is greater than Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic’s, despite not being quite as ‘consistent’ as the two tennis legends.
The Spaniard has helped dominate tennis in the past 24 months, winning three of the last seven Grand Slams – sharing the other four with world No 1 Jannik Sinner.
Recently, Alcaraz has won 34 of his last 36 matches, claiming titles in Monte Carlo, Rome, the French Open, and at the Queen’s Club.
“It was a different type of tennis, with two players [Djokovic and Nadal] that are crazy consistent, building the points a lot,” began the renowned coach, during the latest Ultimate Tennis Showdown event in Guadalajara.
“If you look at Alcaraz, for example, he’s more of a puncher, but I think it’s very interesting too because he can do so many different things and he does everything so well.
“He drop shots, he comes to the net, unbelievable power, unbelievable touch, he can return, volley, and he does all this in a match. That’s crazy.
“So that’s very interesting. It’s never boring; something happens all the time.
“Of course, he’s not as consistent as Rafa and Novak at their peak, or Sinner now, who’s incredibly consistent, but he’s more fiery.”
Against his fellow Spaniard, Alcaraz lost their first two meetings, before claiming the victory in their third – and final – encounter.
Djokovic has had his fair share of success against the 22-year-old, possessing a 5-3 lead in their head-to-head.
The former coach of Holger Rune, Simona Halep, and Naomi Osaka also believes that the five-time Grand Slam champion’s body type is not in line with the majority of the other elite tennis players.
“Clearly there is a change in terms of body type of the tennis player for the last years,” added Mouratoglou.
“They are taller and taller, they are thinner and thinner. Look at the top guys, I mean there is one exception, Carlos Alcaraz, but all the other guys, whether it’s Djokovic, Sinner, [Alexander] Zverev, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, [Daniil] Medvedev. I mean all the guys are really thin, very tall.
“Huge serve, huge power! Because when you’re able to accelerate at the same speed as someone who is smaller but with longer arms, I mean the ball goes much faster.
“And [Jakub] Mensik is tall, [Alex] Michelsen is tall.
“All those guys have the same body type and I think it’s the modern body type.
“So yes, the new generation is like this. Of course, [Joao] Fonseca is one of those. Incredible power, incredible forehand, going so fast. So yes, that’s the new tennis.”
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Most recently, Alcaraz’s 20-match winning streak at Wimbledon was ended by Sinner in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 final.
Just over a week later, the Spaniard also withdrew from the Canadian Masters.
The world No 2 is next due to participate in the Cincinnati Masters, which will feature Sinner, Zverev, and Taylor Fritz, among others – with three-time champion Djokovic having withdrawn.
At the upcoming US Open, Alcaraz will only be defending 50 ranking points after having been sensationally upset by Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round at last year’s edition.
In the week prior to this year’s edition of the New York Grand Slam, he will partner up with Emma Raducanu in the redesigned mixed doubles category.
