Renowned coach Patrick Mouratoglou has taken aim at what he sees as a growing habit on the ATP and WTA Tours, arguing that several players are too quick to frame painful losses in positive terms.

Carlos Alcaraz, Alex Eala, Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula all drew scrutiny from Mouratoglou after their US Open exits, with each of them saying they were satisfied with aspects of their performances. Alcaraz, the defending champion, fell to Ben Shelton in four sets in the quarter-final, then spoke about being proud of his effort and happy to leave the court with a smile.

“It was close. It was close. So I’m just not going to be disappointed about don’t getting the win at the end. You know, I’m just happy. I’m just proud about myself, about how I fought,” he said.

“You know, after the third set, physically I was really tired, but you know, I found a way to push myself up and, you know, physically giving extra.”

The world No 3 added: “You know, I leave the court happy. I leave the court with a smile, healthy, and this is what I needed.”

Eala, beaten by Iva Jovic in the third round, and Swiatek, who lost to Zheng Qinwen in the round of 16, also described their matches in similar terms. Pegula, meanwhile, said there was little she could do after falling in straight sets to Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final.

Mouratoglou, writing on LinkedIn, said he was not convinced by that reaction. He pointed to Alcaraz’s long battle on court and argued that champions are defined by how deeply they dislike losing. In his view, no winning culture can coexist with acceptance of defeat.

The coach, who worked with Serena Williams from 2012 to 2022, also suggested Alcaraz may have arrived with limited expectations after a four-month injury absence and his first tournament since the Barcelona Open. But he said a player of that level should still believe the title is there to be won.

For Mouratoglou, the issue is not only etiquette after defeat, but a broader shift in attitude. He ended by suggesting the pattern is now hard to ignore: “So I guess it’s a trend.”

Madison Keys will not appear at the China Open, taking the tournament’s withdrawal count to nine.

The former Australian Open champion has had a difficult period since the US Open, where she let a 5-0 final-set lead against Qinwen Zheng disappear in the third round. In the aftermath, the 31-year-old was emotional in her post-match press conference and said she has been dealing with a longer-running struggle.

Keys told reporters, “I just feel like I’ve kind of been struggling for a while now, and I feel like I was able to kind of play through it for a bit. I’m sure everyone could kind of see that I was struggling a little bit, but inside it felt probably even bigger than that.

“Some weeks are easier than others, and this week is obviously one of the harder ones just because you care so much. Yeah, I’m going to have to make some sort of changes.”

She also pushed back on pregnancy speculation, saying, “I f people could stop assuming and or asking me if I am pregnant, that would be super fun. That’s like the number one comment I keep getting, post US Open.”

Keys has been replaced in Beijing by Paula Badosa. The WTA 1000 event begins on 30 September and still includes Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Mirra Andreeva, Linda Noskova and Iga Swiatek.

Alex Eala has also withdrawn because of a clash with the Asian Games. She is seeking a WTA exemption so she can represent the Philippines at the competition in Japan, which runs from 27 September to 3 October. If she does not receive it, she faces a fine and points penalty.

McCartney Kessler has ended her 2026 season early after what she called a “physically demanding” campaign. She plans to step back, let her body “heal”, and return in 2027.

Rybakina’s Achilles issue remains another concern. It has already ruled her out of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals this week, although she has not withdrawn from the China Open.

Novak Djokovic could come to resent what the sport has become for him if the health problems that have followed him continue into 2027, according to tennis historian Steve Flink.

Flink said he is increasingly uneasy about the 39-year-old’s physical condition and the way recurring illness and other ailments may shape the next phase of his career. His concerns have sharpened after Djokovic’s loss to Thiago Tirante at the Cincinnati Open, when the Serbian said he had been dealing with a “health issue for many years” that becomes worse in hot, humid conditions.

Those problems were again visible at the US Open, where Djokovic suffered a five-set opening-round defeat to Mariano Navone. Afterward, he described the “vomiting and gagging” as a “serious problem”. He added, “In the end, my back and shoulder also gave out, and I couldn’t finish the match,” before saying, “I don’t want to go into too much detail. I’m just trying to understand what’s going on and how much longer I can keep going like this.”

Despite those setbacks, Djokovic has confirmed he will compete in Beijing later this month. Even so, Flink believes the Serbian may face difficult decisions if the same pattern persists. Speaking on Gross’ YouTube channel, he said, “I am concerned because he had the same stomach bout going in Cincinnati; it’s happened a bunch of times in the past year. If you’re constantly dealing with the stomach and getting sick on the court and you’ve got ailments with your shoulder and back… he did enter Beijing, so I guess it’s not too serious at the moment.

“It worries me and it sounds odd to say this but I don’t want him to go too easy on himself and say, ‘It’s okay, I can play a couple more years like that, it doesn’t matter’, he is going to hate it if that becomes a pattern.

“Do I think it will? Not necessarily but if there’s any replication of that in the next couple of years I think he’d have to be really concerned. He knows better than us and he won’t stain his lgacy by any means but I think he has a certain standard too.

“He had his family watching him [at the US Open] and they obviously were in great distress having to view that and knowing he was in no condition to control his own destiny. It’s enough to deal with injuries but dealing with this nagging health issue, which doesn’t seem to be going away, it’s just compounded. I think he’s got some tough choices to make over the autumn as he looks ahead of 2027.”

Gross agreed with the broad point, though he said it is already a major ask for Djokovic to remain in “peak condition” for the US Open after such a heavy year, even with a relatively light schedule.

Flink also suggested that the pursuit of a 25th Grand Slam may now be in doubt. He added, “Up until this year I thought it could have happened at any time but now I have real doubts if the 25th can happen. Can he win any more titles?”

Djokovic is now 11th in the rankings, his lowest position since 2017. Since the start of 2024, he has won three tournaments, leaving his total of 101 titles looking difficult to extend.