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Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou has rated Carlos Alcaraz's performance against Jannik Sinner in the semifinal of the 2024 French Open as the 'worst of his career'. Alcaraz managed to overcome Sinner 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at Philippe Chatrier on Friday, June 7, and reach his first Roland Garros final.
Alcaraz will face Germany's Alexander Zverev in the summit clash on Sunday, June 9. Zverev notably defeated Norway's Casper Ruud 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in his semifinal on Friday.
Ahead of the title clash, Patrick Mouratoglou dissected Alcaraz's form against Sinner in the final and offered a viewpoint that can be concerning for the Spaniard.
"Alcaraz played one of the worst matches of his career, technically, and he beat the [to be] World No. 1. The major takeaway of the match for Alcaraz vs Sinner is that when nothing works, you can still win," Mouratoglou said in a video message on Instagram.
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The 21-year-old was blown away by Sinner in the opening set and a couple more games as the Italian converted four break points to take a 6-2, 2-0 lead.
Carlos Alcaraz stepped up in time to equal the proceedings by winning the second set, however, Mouratoglou believes the Spaniard was nowhere close to his best level for most of the match but benefitted from a slump in Sinner's level due to cramping. The Frenchman said:
"I think it couldn’t be worst for Alcaraz for almost four sets. He was a million miles away from his level. He was not feeling the ball, he was not feeling his legs, he was extremely slow in whatever he was doing because the emotional side took over everything."
"When you watch the start of the match, it’s 6-2, 2-0 for Sinner. There’s no match. He’s million miles away from his opponent. Suddenly, Sinner starts cracking and then he’s going to cramp."
Jannik Sinner received massages on multiple occasions during the semifinal against Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open to relieve himself of pain due to cramps.
"The physical part played a big role" - Patrick Mouratoglou on Carlos Alcaraz defeating Jannik Sinner
In the same video message, Patrick Mouratoglou opined that Carlos Alcaraz's mental toughness combined with Jannik Sinner's physical struggles swung the pendulum in the Spaniard's favor in the semifinal of the 2024 French Open on Friday.
"The mental made Alcaraz being very far from his level and almost lose, but also the mental gave him the chance to finally win at the end. The physical part played a big role, Sinner was cramping, and finally the tennis, of course played a part but I wouldn’t say the biggest part," Mouratoglou added.
This was notably Carlos Alcaraz's ninth battle with Jannik Sinner and he took a 5-4 lead in terms of the head-to-head.
Against Alexander Zverev, his opponent for Sunday's final, Alcaraz's head-to-head record looks similar with him trailing 5-4 being the difference. The Spaniard will step on Philippe Chatrier with Zverev not before 2:30 pm (local time) for a shot at his maiden French Open glory.
