Coach says Carlos Alcaraz still has a lot to learn about tennis

Carlos Alcaraz seemed to be on an ascension to owning the sport of tennis this summer. He might still get there, but he is not quite there yet, and other players are catching up to him. Plus, Alcaraz’s greatest rival, Novak Djokovic, seems to be the far superior player still.

After defeating Djokovic in the Wimbledon final in July, Carlos Alcaraz did not win another tournament the rest of the year. He lost to Djokovic in the Western and Southern Open final and he lost to the Serb again in the semifinals of the ATP Finals. The ATP Finals match had to be disheartening for Alcaraz as he was serving extremely well but he onlywon five games in the match.

Jannik Sinner has been playing better as the year wore on and at the ATP Finals Sinner appeared to have surpassed Alcaraz, though the two did not play. Sinner has the defense, court coverage, and power to give Carlos Alcaraz issues for the next decade. Sinner went unbeaten at the ATP Finals until he faced Djokovic in the final.

Carlos Alcaraz still needs to grow up some to be truly great

According to Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, the No. 2 ATP player simply does not yet know how to prepare for a full schedule of tennis. In the last two years, Alcaraz has either faded or been injured or both once the schedule gets into September. According to TennisHead, Ferrero said

"I think that professionally he has to start learning that the world of tennis is from January to November. He has to take his breaks, but this is a wheel which continues, and it is a job and that’s where you have to be at…Carlos is very emotional and sometimes that helps him and other times not so much."

What tennis fans have seen from Carlos Alcaraz will likely change some, too. While he is ultra-aggressive, he sometimes gets himself in trouble by trying to do too much. Sometimes the easy points need to be made without so much effort. But that will just come with experience and learning patience.

But it is easy to forget that Alcaraz is only 20 years old. He has years in which to improve his game and learn to be more nuanced. He will likely get there and win 15 Grand Slams unless Sinner stops him.