Paul Annacone is adamant that Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka share a key similarity after watching the French Open final.
And, whilst the 27-year-old did fall to defeat, it was her inability to maintain her level and deal with the conditions that actually sparked this claim.
After all, she has comfortably been the best player in the world for over a year now, showing it with numerous titles. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz has been cleaning up too, perhaps without that same scary consistency.
Ironically enough, it is a certain type of consistency that has led Annacone to make this comparison.
Roger Federer’s former coach compares Carlos Alcaraz with Aryna Sabalenka
Speaking ahead of today’s men’s French Open final, Annacone was keen to outline the similarities he saw in these two elite-level players.
After all, having watched Coco Gauff claim the title whilst Sabalenka struggled only confirmed his suspicions.
He claimed: ‘This is what I think. I honestly believe that Sabalenka and Alcaraz are similar in their ceilings are so high.
‘The difference is when Alcaraz makes really bad decisions and things don’t go that well, he generally maintains that relentless optimism. He generally continues to have fun and find ways around it. Sabalenka doesn’t.
‘She gets frustrated, she goes away, she gets tied up in knots, and so when Alcaraz loses a set 6-2, I actually don’t worry. And he may lose a set 6-2.
‘The only time I worry with Alcaraz is if he gets down on himself emotionally. So he can get away with the fluctuations because of his personality makeup and Sabalenka cannot. But there’s similarities, I think, because they both sometimes do questionable things, because they’re so talented.’
Aryna Sabalenka enjoys her best-ever run at Roland Garros
Whilst it will be a tough loss to take, Sabalenka will surely be back to claim the French Open title in the future after what has been her best-ever run at this event.
After all, when she lost the 2023 US Open final, the three-time Grand Slam champion bounced back to win it the following year, and is a huge favourite to retain her crown again in 2025.
She may have faltered yesterday, but few can criticise Sabalenka’s mentality, especially after the various ups and downs endured throughout her career.
And it’s not like her opponent did not perform well in the final either, with Gauff praised for her tactics in the Roland Garros final.
The reigning Miami and Madrid champion, regular titles and finals have become a terrifying commonplace for a player who has all the tools to be unstoppable.
Given her track record, it would surprise no one if Sabalenka managed to turn things around from this defeat and went on to win the last two Grand Slam tournaments of the year.
