Patrick
Mouratoglou analyzed
Novak Djokovic's moment after losing the
Wimbledon final
and believes that he is now "beatable."
The former
coach of Serena Williams gave his opinion on the reasons that led Carlos
Alcaraz to come out victorious in the final against Djokovic, despite the Serb
being the clear favorite.
According
to Mouratoglou, 'Nole' is facing the weight of history in his quest to achieve
his 24th Grand Slam title, which would allow him to equal Margaret Court as the
all-time leader in major tournament wins.
This
pursuit of history could be affecting Djokovic's mentality and performance on
the court, making him more susceptible to being defeated by other players
“The reason
why Carlos won the Wimbledon final, I believe is because he felt free to go for
his shots in the big moments and Novak didn’t. It was a very mental match and
both of the guys get tense,” explained the Frenchman in a video posted on his
Instagram account.
“I mean a
Grand Slam final has to be mental, for sure. And I think the best image is this
tiebreak in the second set, and he (Djokovic) has this backhand and he hits the
net. He could have killed the match and he didn’t.
“We can say
the same for Carlos, he was two sets to one up and he had these two break
points at the start of the fourth. And Novak is really super down at that time,
and he (Alcaraz) doesn’t make them either.
“But at the
end, if you put Novak in the perspective of where Carlos is now, Novak would
have done the same. Playing like the underdog and playing unbelievable in the
big moments.”
“I think in
the situation he is now, he is really beatable in those matches because of the
weight of history. I feel that being this ultimate favourite all the time and
playing for history – it has to be a burden. I don’t think Carlos has an edge
on Novak,” continued Mouratoglou.
“I think,
he beat him in a Grand Slam final, Novak beat him in Roland Garros. So I think
both players are very close in terms of level. I think Novak can play much
better than what he he did in the final. I think he was very nervous. He has to
be able to play more free.”
In just one
month, the 2023 US Open will begin, and this time Djokovic will be able to
participate, most likely as the second seed behind Alcaraz. The young Spanish
player is the defending champion, thanks to his victory over Casper Ruud in
four sets.