Although Carlos Alcaraz will not end 2024 as the year-end No. 1, Naomi Osaka's coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, thinks he achieved the most challenging task in tennis this season.
Jannik Sinner became the fastest player to officially confirm he would finish as the year-end No. 1 since Novak Djokovic in 2015 after an outstanding season that included winning his maiden Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and the French Open.
Alcaraz is the only man to achieve consistent success against Sinner in 2024. He has won three consecutive matches against the Italian this year, including outlasting his rival in an epic China Open final.
Sinner broke that losing streak by beating Alcaraz in the final of the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia. That earned him the largest paycheck ever, $6 million, but Sinner insisted afterward he does not play for money.
Although overcoming Alcaraz will have boosted his confidence, the Six Kings Slam match does not count in their ATP head-to-head since it took place at an exhibition. Therefore, the Spaniard's three-match winning run against Sinner is still officially ongoing.
Beating someone as good as Sinner three times in a row is an impressive feat, but Mouratoglou does not think that is the 21-year-old's best achievement in 2024.
Alcaraz won his maiden French Open title before securing a second Wimbledon title a few weeks later after overcoming Novak Djokovic for the second consecutive year, this time more comfortably in straight sets.
Mouratoglou outlined to Tennis365 why he believes winning the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season is the most difficult thing to achieve in tennis, highlighting the different skills needed on clay and grass.
"I think what he did is probably the most difficult thing to do in tennis, to win back to back, two tournaments that are opposite in terms of qualities to win them. At Roland Garros, you need to be high on your legs, sliding, using a lot to spin longer rallies."
"Then go to Wimbledon, where you have to return big servers on the surface that is, of course, better for counter punchers or players who are much more aggressive with less spin."
"At Wimbledon, you have to be so low on the legs and not slide and wow, those two tournaments are so close in terms of timing, to make those two back to back, is probably one of most difficult things to do in tennis."
The French coach thinks Alcaraz was mentally exhausted after losing the Olympic gold medal match to Djokovic shortly after winning the French Open and Wimbledon, arguing that contributed to his level dropping before and during the US Open.
"He was exhausted, mentally exhausted. Two Grand Slam wins in a row. Then can he rest? No. The Olympic Games. Plus all the other tournaments, it was too much."
"I am not surprised that he is saying that he had so many thoughts and so many emotions that he couldn’t deal with. That is exactly the consequence of someone who is emotionally drained. If you are not fresh here (the mind), it is more and more difficult to do it."