Noted tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou believes that Novak Djokovic is in the best position to win the 2024 US Open despite Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz also being among the favorites.
Moruatoglou has been involved in tennis for a very long time. He leads one of the most famous tennis academies in the world, where players such as Coco Gauff, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune, and others grew up.
He also leads the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) series of events, which is quickly gaining popularity in the sport. He's also an occasional coach, most famously known for working with Serena Williams, Simona Halep, and Rune.
As an experienced tennis mind, people tend to pay attention to what he says because few people know about tennis as much as he does. The Frenchman was in New York for the latest edition of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, and he sat down with tennis365 to chat about the US Open.
In the interview, Mouratoglou highlighted his belief that Djokovic has the biggest chance to win the US Open. Quite a few analysts already proclaimed it after he won the Paris Olympics.
That win was the signature run Djokovic was missing because it was an inspired run on the biggest stage. We haven't seen him play that well in a long time, but he's back and capable of playing tennis like that again.
"The one who is in the best position at the moment is Novak. After claiming his gold medal in Paris and the quality of tennis he played to beat Alcaraz in that final, it looked like he was completely back."
Djokovic is not the only challenger for the trophy, though. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are serious contenders as well. Sinner just won the Cincinnati Open with superb tennis.
Alcaraz is certainly very motivated after failing to win the gold medal in Paris and also after losing early in Cincinnati. For Mouratoglou, Sinner's recent physical struggles are a question mark in a best-of-five format, while for Alcaraz, it's the mental side.
He had a really long summer with lots of tennis, and the Frenchman is unsure whether that had any impact on him.
"Sinner has these little injuries here and there and even though he won in Cincinnati, he struggled more than usual and it looks like he has the start of an injury with his hip."
"Then you look at Carlos and he had a bad tournament in Cincinnati. I don’t know whether he won so much in the last few months that he has more. I don’t know where he is mentally. It’s really difficult to play that many matches week after week and win so much. To keep the focus is tough."
It promises to be an epic showdown with all of the players involved. Other players are also in the mix, such as Daniil Medvedev, who likely fancies his chances. Alexander Zverev is a capable player, too, so there is a lot to be excited about.
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