Former world number one Roger Federer’s ex-coach Paul Annacone has highlighted that Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz lost a “little bit of joy” after his defeat in the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics. The 21-year-old is already considered one of the best players currently playing in the singles category of men’s tennis, along with Italian Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz is coming off an impressive 2024 season, winning two of the four Grand Slam tournaments for the first time in his career. At the French Open he won the title after defeating Germany’s Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in the final in a five-set thriller. He then won the Wimbledon title for the second time in two years after defeating former world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 in the final.
However, Alcaraz’s season took a turn for the worse in the second half as he struggled to maintain his consistency. The world number three’s last appearance was at the ATP Finals, where he was unable to make it to the semi-finals after two defeats in three matches. Former world number one Federer’s ex-coach Annacone was quoted in a recent report highlighting that the main reason for Alcaraz’s difficulties in the latter stages of the season was the defeat in the final of the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics .
“You have to find what motivates you and stick with it,” he said. “And I think Carlos Alcaraz is a happy player. I think he lost a little of that joy this year for a variety of reasons. I think one of his greatest achievements was one of the biggest hurdles he had to overcome this year, ‘just’ winning a silver medal. It’s a great accomplishment, but I think it broke his heart a little bit at the Olympics and put him off track a little bit for the rest of the summer.”
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