“He’s not as consistent as Rafa and Novak at their peak”—Patrick Mouratoglou on Carlos Alcaraz’s biggest challenge

Naomi Osaka’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, highlighted the attribute in which Carlos Alcaraz surpasses Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. The French coach, former mentor of Serena Williams, analysed the differences in the 21-year-old’s game compared to the two greatest Grand Slam champions of the Open Era.

The Spaniard has struggled with consistency in recent times. In 2024, he secured two Grand Slam titles at the French Open and Wimbledon, followed by the Masters 1000 title at the China Open in October, where he defeated Jannik Sinner in the final.

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In 2025, Alcaraz reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, falling to 10-time champion Djokovic, who later withdrew from the tournament due to injury in the semi-finals. The Spaniard quickly bounced back from that tough loss, clinching the Rotterdam Open title just a few weeks later—his first indoor hard-court title.

However, the Middle East Swing was not as successful, with a quarter-final exit at the Qatar Open against Jiri Lehecka. The four-time Grand Slam champion seems poised to follow in the footsteps of the Big Three, yet he is still searching for the consistency that Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic mastered.

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"The new generation is great. It was a different type of tennis with two players [Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic] who were incredibly consistent, who built the points a lot," Mouratoglou said on social media. "If you look at [Carlos] Alcaraz, for example, he’s more of a puncher. But I think it’s very interesting because he can do so many different things, and he does everything so well."

"He plays 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," added the former coach of Holger Rune. "So it’s very exciting, never boring, something is always happening. Of course, he’s not as consistent as Rafa and Novak at their peak or [Jannik] Sinner now, who’s incredibly consistent, but he’s more fiery," he said.

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