Patrick Mouratoglou, the former coach of Serena Williams, discussed how talent could never be a benefit. In comparison to other qualities, the 54-year-old claimed that it was a very minor one.
The Frenchman recently discussed the impact of talent in tennis on Instagram. According to Mouratoglou, skill can be the complete opposite of a benefit in sports, as it impairs a player’s capacity for battle during a game.
Mouratoglou talked about it and said: “It hurts your ability to fight and victory becomes less important than keeping your talent. The truth is, the only way to win is with work.”
Furthermore, Mouratoglou mentioned a game he played with Holger Rune in which he asked the Dane to list five characteristics that Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Carlos Alcaraz, and Jannik Sinner did not have in common.
He added: “I played this little game with Holger. I told him if I name Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, (Carlos) Alcaraz, (Jannik) Sinner, give me five things that they have in common. I don’t think talent is one of the things. I’m not saying they don’t have talent, I’m just saying that’s a minor quality compared to all the other ones.”
The 54-year-old added that if someone had no choice but to work hard at anything, they would approach everything else similarly. He or she also stated that one had to put in a lot of effort in order to be great at something.
Mouratoglou concluded: “It gives bad habits to people to be talented, because the truth is, again, to be great at something, you’ll have to put in enormous effort. If you learn to work extremely hard because you have no other option, this attitude you will carry in everything you do.”
Alcaraz in Beijing, ranking, and results in 2024
Ranked world no.3, Alcaraz achieved a 44-9 record in 2024. Carlos is competing in Beijing where he bested the world no.51 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4 6-4.
Carlos Alcaraz will take on the world no.358 Gabi Adrian Boitan in the . They have never played each other up to now on the main tour.
The Spaniard conquered 3 titles in 2024 in Indian Wells, French Open and Wimbledon. Carlos was the finalist in Paris (Olympics).
Alcaraz won 16 titles in his career: 4 on hard courts, 8 on clay courts, 1 on indoor courts and 3 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Novak Djokovic in 2024
Currently ranked no.
4, the Serbian played his last match on the 14th of September when he overcame world no.773 Ioannis Xilas 6-0 6-1 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).At present, during this year Djokovic owns an overall 32-8 win-loss record. Novak clinched 1 title in Paris. The Serbian was the finalist in Wimbledon.
He is also scheduled to play in Shanghai (Shanghai Rolex Masters) on the 2nd of October and Paris (Rolex Paris Masters) on the 28th of October.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic squared off 7 times. Their current record is 4-3 for Djokovic. The last time they competed against each other, Novak Djokovic won 7-6(3) 7-6(2) in the final in Paris (Olympics) on the 4th of August 2024.
Rafael Nadal in 2024
At the moment ranked no.154, Rafael played his last match on the 29th of July when he lost to world no.4 Novak Djokovic 6-1 6-4 in the 2nd round in Paris (draw).
This season Rafael has a 12-7 match record. Rafael Nadal’s best result of this season was reaching the final in Bastad.
Sinner in Beijing, ranking, and results in 2024
Now ranked no.1, Jannik has managed to achieve an overall 57-5 match record in 2024. Jannik is competing in Beijing where he overcame the world no.28 Nicolas Jarry 4-6 6-3 6-1 and the world no.69 Roman Safiullin 3-6 6-2 6-3.
Jannik Sinner will play the world no.37 Jiri Lehecka in the quarter. The head to head is 2-2.
Jannik clinched 6 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati and U.S. Open.
The Italian won 17 titles in his career: 8 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts, 7 on indoor courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner played each other 3 times. The head to head is 3-0 for Nadal. The last time they played each other, Rafael Nadal won 7-5 6-3 6-0 in the 4th round in Paris (French Open) in June 2021.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.