According to Boris Becker, other players have caught up to Carlos Alcaraz, who sees the dip in form as a result of him simply not evolving at the pace of other players.
It's a very interesting take by Becker, who is obviously a very smart tennis mind. We've seen his impact on the player of Holger Rune as he swiftly fixed some of the issues that plagued the Danish rising star for months.
Alcaraz had a tremendous rise last year, with every match he played seemingly featuring a much better player than he had been in the previous round. The rise just kept going and going, and it never really stopped. Or did it?
The grass season was probably the last time Alcaraz really took a huge step. He won Wimbledon, which was a tremendous achievement, but since then, not much has happened.
We've seen Alexander Zverev step up. Daniil Medvedev found his form again. Jannik Sinner took a huge step forward, but Alcaraz seemingly didn't. That's according to Becker, who explained his thoughts on the Eurosport podcast.
Why is that? Duelling with Djokovic, becoming No. 1 in the world and winning Wimbledon for the first time - maintaining this level is the most difficult thing in tennis. Anyone can have a good tournament or a good year from time to time, but maintaining that level over the years is the real challenge.
My favourite saying in this context is: 'The locker room never sleeps'. It means that the other players have realised how you have to play against Alcaraz to have a chance against him. That's what happened. Other players have developed and Alcaraz hasn't.
We'll see whether Becker is right in January when Alcaraz makes a comeback at the Australian Open. It's a court that plays well for him so we'll see whether he finds his best tennis at the event.
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