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.”
Jannik Sinner's coach Darren Cahill with some great words about Alcaraz (via Advantage Connors). "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... Carlos is a bit…
