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French tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently reflected on Carlos Alcaraz's meteoric rise and how "tennis evolves," making it possible for anything to happen.
Mouratoglou has coached the likes of Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Coco Gauff, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, among others. He is currently coaching Danish teenager Holger Rune.
The veteran posted a video on his Instagram where he spoke about Carlos Alcaraz's success and how one can never predict something correctly in tennis.
Touching upon Alcaraz's record of becoming the youngest No. 1 in the ATP rankings, Mouratoglou mentioned the likes of Boris Becker, Michael Chang, and Mats Wilander, who were all very close to becoming the youngest No. 1 in the world. He added that in tennis, nothing can be predicted without being proven wrong.
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"This week, Alcaraz has become the youngest No. 1 in the world ever. That's very interesting because for many years we have heard from all the or most of the tennis analysts that was impossible for a young player to become No. 1 in the world. This was the past, Becker, Chang, Wilander. That's the past but they pretended that it was not possible and I like it because whenever you say something in tennis, you are proven wrong. It's this all the time," Patrick Mouratoglou said.
Mouratoglou further elaborated on his statement by drawing examples from Pete Sampras', Martina Hingis', and the Williams sisters' careers. He spoke about how people predicted that no would ever break Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles, a feat that was later accomplished by three different players.
He also stated that at the time of Hingis becoming World No. 1, people believed that only tactics would win you matches in tennis, but with the advent of the Williams sisters, the perception changed to raw power being the key to success in the game.
"Everybody said when Sampras scored 14 Grand Slams, that this record will never ever be beaten, already three guys beat it, the generation after. Everybody was saying when Martina Hingis was becoming the No. 1 in the world that the tennis has become so tactical but when the Williams sister came and crushed everyone with power, and then without power it was not possible anymore to be a top player. And then Justin Henin came with her slice backhand and a completely different game."
He concluded by saying that this evolution in the sport is what makes the game even better.
"So that's what's great in tennis. Everybody has his chance with qualities and that everything is possible," Mouratoglou said.
Carlos Alcaraz is the first player outside of the Big 4 to end the year as the World No. 1
Carlos Alcaraz was present on Wednesday at the Pala Alpitour Arena in Turin, Italy, to collect his first year-end World No. 1 trophy. He was confirmed as the season's top-ranked player after only two contenders, Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas, failed to meet expectations.
Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest person to accomplish the feat at the age of 19 years and 214 days. He is also the first player other than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray to hold the year-end No. 1 position.
