Darren
Cahill commented on
Carlos Alcaraz's performance during the hardcourt swing and
the reasons that hindered his title defense at the
US Open.
Alcaraz
arrived at Flushing Meadows as the defending champion of the US Open and the
recent Wimbledon champion. However, he fell in the semifinals to Daniil
Medvedev, losing 6-7(3), 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, and relinquishing his title.
The coach
of Jannik Sinner, Darren Cahill, shared his thoughts on Alcaraz's maturity in
facing challenges during Jimmy Connors' podcast:
“He is an
amazing young man, certainly very humble, very honest. He and Jannik are very
alike in many many ways, that’s why they are good friends off the court as well
because they do get along, they do think the same and they do want it as badly
as everybody. Carlos is a bit ahead of Jannik, at the moment,” stated Cahill.
“I think
what Carlos was able to achieve at Wimbledon was remarkable. Going from
somebody that people were thinking ‘it will take a few years before he becomes
a threat on grass’ and then twelve months later, he won the trophy, defeating
Novak Djokovic in the final,” he added
“That’s
everything about how competitive Carlos is, his work, his determination, and
also his maturity. He might say that he is not mature enough, but he is.”
According
to Cahill, Alcaraz couldn't perform at his best during the Masters 1000 events
in Cincinnati and Canada because he was affected by physical and mental fatigue
that he had carried over from Wimbledon:
“I think
that [Wimbledon success] had a bit of a lag effect – physically and mentally –
on him through the whole US summer,” Cahill claimed.
“I don’t
think he played great tennis in Toronto or Cincinnati, but he was just good
enough to battle through some difficult situations in certainly in Cincinnati
and play that amazing final against Novak. And that probably left him a little
bit physically fatigued for the US Open.
“You could
tell that he was struggling a little physically in that semi-final against
Medvedev. He didn’t show it, he still played every point like it was the last
and he was there until the end and he made no excuses after that match. I love
that about Carlos, I love the fact that he is playing tennis, tennis is lucky
to have him and hopefully he stays injury free and we can have him at the top
of the sport for a long, long time.”
