Mouratoglou strikes again at Alcaraz's 'happiness': "I don't believe it"

Carlos Alcaraz is back and with him the opinions of Patrick Mouratoglou. The French coach, who trained Stefanos Tsitsipas during a US Open where he reached the round of 16, has once again shared his thoughts on the Spanish star. First, he criticized his plans to take one or two months off in the future. Now, he comments on the statements made by the Murcian right after losing to Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals of the US Open, in which he claimed he was leaving New York happy.

“Alcaraz was on the court for four and a half hours, lost 10-7 in the fifth set tiebreak, and left saying he was happy. I don't believe it,” the Frenchman started off his message on the LinkedIn social network.

POV: you're playing this point with Carlos Alcaraz 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nnCmFYPnrG

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2026

Patrick Mouratoglou doubted Alcaraz's statements after being eliminated from the US Open

However, the coach wanted to clarify: “Let me explain my position because I’m really uncertain about it. The first part is simple. Champions hate losing. That is precisely why they are champions. They fight with all their might to avoid the worst thing on the planet: defeat.”

Additionally, he wanted to recall his experience with Serena Williams: “I worked with Serena for ten years. I can assure you how much she hated losing. Pete Sampras couldn’t get out of bed for two weeks after a loss. And players who pretend it doesn’t matter, I think they are lying. You can’t build a winning culture and be okay with losing at the same time.”

For this reason, Mouratoglou believes Alcaraz did it to save face: “Then there is courtesy itself. Before, you lost, shook hands, and that was it. Today it has become a trend. Novak is always incredibly courteous when he loses. Carlos is too. Sabalenka is one of the great exceptions.”

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However, the coach also thinks that these statements from the Spaniard indicate something else: “In the long run, the process matters more than the short-term result. When winning becomes more important than anything else, wrong decisions are made during a match, time and again. To reach your maximum potential, you must play as you should always, and trust that after two or three years it will take you where you want to go. Wanting to win too much can become an obstacle to development.”

This hypothesis leads him to another point that, as always, invites controversy: “If he really meant what he said, it indicates to me that he came to this US Open not believing he could win it. He hadn’t had enough time to prepare. He wasn’t physically ready, and I believe that because he lost nine games in a row to Ben Shelton and you could see on his face how hard it was for him.”

And this is how Patrick Mouratoglou concluded his opinion on Alcaraz's statements: “Perhaps this tournament simply exceeded his own expectations. But a champion of that level, even when not at 100% physically, should still be thinking: ‘I’m going to win anyway’.”
 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Mouratoglou vuelve a cargar contra la ‘felicidad’ de Alcaraz: "No me lo creo"