Carlos Alcaraz has difficult period ahead with lots of pressure to live up to expectations, believes Serena Williams' ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou

Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently opined that Carlos Alcaraz will have to deal with serious pressure situations in the upcoming days.

The former World. 1 had an immensely successful 2022 season, having won his maiden Grand Slam singles title, the 2022 US Open.

His maiden Grand Slam win also paved the way for Alcaraz to become the youngest player to reach the top of the ATP singles rankings. However, the Spaniard had to miss a lot of tennis action due to injury. He made his comeback at the Argentina Open last week.

Mouratoglou, a former coach of Williams, Simona Halep, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, recently predicted Carlos Alcaraz's upcoming days on the tour. The 52-year-old French coach uploaded a video to social media.

In it, he spoke about how the Spanish youngster handles pressure, especially with the added tag of being a former World No. 1 on the tour.

"I think Carlos is someone that handles the pressure well but I think he'll have pressure. Maybe, he doesn't realise yet but when he will be there, having to defend titles, having been No. 1 in the world with all the expectations that come with it, he'll feel it and it's normal," Mouratoglou said.

He added that the Spaniard will have a lot of tough times as he has to defend a lot of points in Miami, Madrid, Barcelona, etc.

"He has to defend, and Rio, Miami, Madrid, Barcelona. It's an incredible amount of points that he'll have to defend."

Mouratoglou continued by saying that he believes Carlos Alcaraz won't worry about his rankings. Instead, he'd focus on the fact that he has beaten some of the top players in the game last year.

The highly reputed coach also shed some light on how Alcaraz has to deal with the pressure that comes along with his past glories.

"I believe that he doesn't think about the rankings and the points or that he will, ...but more his status. I'm here, I won last year, I beat most of the best players in the world. So, I'm supposed to win. And how do I handle the fact that when I go on the court, everything but a win is a bad result? So this is difficult and this is what he will have to deal with a 100 percent."

"He was a bit up and down... but it's normal" - Patrick Mouratoglou on Carlos Alcaraz's Argentina Open title

ATP 250 Argentina Open 2023 - Final

Having returned from a long injury, Carlos Alcaraz showed his class at the recently concluded Argentina Open. Plying his trade as the top seed of the event, Alcaraz beat Cameron Norrie 6-3, 7-5 in the finals.

Reflecting on his title-winning run there, Mouratoglou said that the Spaniard showed a few signs of "ups and downs" during the tournament.

"I think for Carlos it was very important to win. He's coming back after a long injury. If I look at the schedule, he made a schedule to win. His level was good, very decent. He was a bit up and down during the matches, but it's normal four months without playing. So we saw several times, and also in the final, especially to close up the match, that he started to shake a little bit," Mouratoglou added.

Carlos Alcaraz will lock horns with Nicolas Jarry in the semifinals of the ongoing Rio Open.