Juan Carlos Ferrero on Alcaraz's arrival: Explosive - but in spaghetti form
Juan Carlos Ferrero is one of the guarantors of Carlos Alcaraz 's success - and he well remembers his protégé's arrival at his academy.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Sep 12, 2022, 09:16 pm
Alcaraz has been training with the former French Open champ at the Equelite Academy since 2018 - and in the tennisnet interview in 2020, Ferrero explained the youngster's strengths : he is a hard worker and he always listens to you. He has great determination and shows it in every game and training session. He never loses faith that he can still win. And he always strives to keep improving.
Alcaraz had repeatedly visited Ferrero in previous years, but the joint work was only made official in preparation for 2019.
It is, one can say, a resounding success.
"Fast hands, fast legs, no muscles"
After Alcaraz's US Open victory, Ferrero again reflected on the old days - the good conditions, but also the things that needed to be improved. Alcaraz was explosive, but he still had to work a lot. "When he came to the Academy, at 15, he was like spaghetti: very skinny," laughs JCF. "Of course we saw that he had very fast hands, very fast legs, but no muscles at all. Not in his back, not in his legs." There was a lot of work to be done - "but of course we saw something very special in him".
Carlos Alcaraz: Happiness lost
After the successful spring of 2022 with tournament victories in Rio, Miami, Barcelona and Madrid, Alcaraz had a little slack in the summer, losing early in Montreal and Cincinnati. "After Concinnati I told him that he was losing a bit of happiness on the pitch, thinking too much about numbers," Ferrero said. In New York, he suggested that every short ball at Alcaraz be connected to the net. "He enjoyed that and it worked."
Nevertheless, there are things to improve, according to the successful coach: "Return, serve, the backhand in some situations, and consistency, especially mentally."
Ferrero was not necessarily surprised by the great success. "I know his level," he said. "I didn't know if it would be this year, but I would have expected it in 2023."