"Carlos Alcaraz's mentally exhausted this year"- Serena Williams' ex-coach weighs in on Spaniard's 'gonna kill us' complaint about tour schedule

Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou shared his thoughts on Carlos Alcaraz's criticism of the 2024 ATP Tour calendar. The Spaniard has had great success this season, having picked up four titles thus far. However, he slowed down considerably during this year's North American hardcourt swing, suffering early exits at the US Open and the Cincinnati Open.

Alcaraz took on the subject of the ATP tour schedule while speaking to the media at the Laver Cup last month. The four-time Major winner claimed that many of his peers felt they had to play far too many tournaments this year. He shared their opinion, remarking that the jam-packed season was bound to impact their physical conditioning at some point.

"A lot of players feel like, 'Okay, it is a good calendar.' And a lot of players says that it’s really tight and a lot of tournaments during the whole year," Carlos Alcaraz said in September (via Tennis Majors). "I’m the kind of player who think there is a lot of tournaments during the year, mandatory tournaments, and probably during the next few years gonna be even more tournaments, more mandatory tournaments. So, I mean, probably they are going to kill us in some way (smiling)."

Patrick Mouratoglou, who coached Serena Williams in 2012-21, took to his Instagram account earlier this week to echo Carlos Alcaraz's sentiments surrounding the tour calendar, insisting in a reel that it was "extremely dense". That said, Mouratoglou maintained that while Alcaraz may have struggled physically due to playing week-in and week-out, his dwindling results also had to do with mental exhaustion.

"'The ATP is going to kill us'. That's what he said. Now, Carlos Alcaraz is explaining in his interview that there are too many tournaments," Patrick Mouratoglou said in his reel. "It's too tough on the body. I understand why he says this, especially this year for him was crazy busy. He won back-to-back RG Wimbledon and the final of the Olympic games, which is crazy. Not only physically but mentally.

"He's been mentally exhausted this year. There are a lot of things we can improve, but yeah. Different surfaces, jet lag, and the fact that this sport is so difficult physically. The calendar is extremely dense."

---

Patrick Mouratoglou on Carlos Alcaraz's complaint about tour schedule: "If you play your best tennis, you gotta play much less"

Carlos Alcaraz hits a forehand at US Open 2024

Moreover, Patrick Mouratoglou believes that many top pros possibly feel that they are missing out on the prospect of picking up ranking points if they sit out of a tournament. He also emphasized that they should focus on their level and be ready for big tournaments.

"A lot of players feel they have the FOMO — Fear of missing out — like, they think, 'Oh, if I don't play that tournament that week and somebody else does, he's going to pass in front of me in the rankings.' So, this FOMO makes them play too much," Mouratoglou said. "If you're great, if you play your best tennis and you're ready 100% for all the big tournaments, you gotta play much less, and you're going to have better results and a better ranking at the end."

Carlos Alcaraz, meanwhile was in phenomenal form at last week's China Open, beating Jannik Sinner 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) to secure the ATP 500 title.