Rick Macci has become the latest person to hit back at Boris Becker after the German claimed that Carlos Alcaraz failed to progress in 2023. Becker had already come under fire from Nick Kyrgios, who claimed that the 20-year-old would “destroy” the six-time Major champion. And renowned tennis coach Macci has now explained why Becker’s verdict is wrong, putting Alcaraz up with Novak Djokovic as the main Grand Slam contenders in 2024.
Becker has become the subject of a pile-on following his comments about Alcaraz’s season. Although the Spaniard was able to win his second Grand Slam title by beating Djokovic at Wimbledon, the 56-year-old thought that Alcaraz had stagnated while his young rivals raised their game. While the German was impressed with Alcaraz’s achievements, he claimed that there was still work to do.
“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,” he told Eurosport. “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.”
But Becker has since received some backlash for his comments, with Hall of Fame tennis coach Macci explaining why he couldn’t agree with the retired former No 1. “I think I read Boris Becker said ‘he didn’t get any better’. I disagree,” the American told Tennis Infinity.
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“I think he got better by losing, even though not by the result. He got better because it will motivate him to work on the mental game and solidify things a little bit, and I think the best is yet to come from Carlos Alcaraz.”
A former mentor to the Williams sisters, Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova, Macci also tipped the world No 2 to be alongside Djokovic as the men to beat in 2024. He added: “Remember, he’s 20 years old. I mean, people forget this, and you’re gonna have some ups and downs. In my opinion, he’s getting better, but here’s what I mean by that.
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“People look at him, but he didn’t do that well at the end of the season. I’m still putting my money on him next year as a contender for every Grand Slam right there with Djokovic.” While Macci went about it politely, Kyrgios didn’t mince his words when he slammed Becker for the same comments.
Taking to X (formerly know as Twitter), the 28-year-old made his thoughts known. Keeping it short and simple, Kyrgios wrote: “Annddddddd Alcaraz would DESTROY Becker….. NEXT.”
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