Carlos Alcaraz's coach at odds with Spaniard as no-nonsense warning fired
Juan Carlos Ferrero had a stern message for Carlos Alcaraz.
Carlos Alcaraz’s coach has revealed that they are at odds when it comes to his recent Australian Open showing.
The world No. 3 lost to Novak Djokovic in the quarter-final and later claimed it wasn’t a “missed opportunity”.
But Juan Carlos Ferrero disagrees, and the Spanish tennis coach has also warned his charge not to fall behind.
Related articles
Alcaraz faced Djokovic in a blockbuster quarter-final match at the Australian Open and took the first set after the No. 7 seed got injured and took an off-court medical timeout.
Ranked four spots above his opponent, Alcaraz was the favourite to win the match. But Djokovic stormed back to beat him 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 despite his physical setback.
After taking some time to digest the defeat, Alcaraz told the ATP: “I don’t feel that it was a missed opportunity against Novak.
“I really wanted to win the tournament and felt I was able to but Novak played an unbelievable match. Facing Novak in the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam is the worst thing. It was a pretty good match.”
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
However, Alcaraz’s coach disagrees. Ferrero has been working with the Spaniard since he was a teenager on the junior circuit and has seen him transform into a multi-Grand Slam champion.
A former No. 1 and Major winner himself, Ferrero believes the quarter-final showing wasn’t good enough. “It was a bit of a disappointment for everyone,” he told Marca.
“Many players would have signed up for the quarter-finals, but with Carlos' potential we always thought we could go further.”
Alcaraz bounced back to lift his first indoor hard-court title at last week’s Rotterdam Open and Ferrero is satisfied - for now.
He added: “The victory in Rotterdam was a shot of motivation and confidence for what is coming soon. We are happy for the moment.”
Related articles
Alcaraz’s coach was also full of praise for his charge’s biggest rival, Jannik Sinner. And he had a clear warning for his own player, telling the world No. 3 not to “fall asleep” and let his rivals get ahead.
“He is a very complete player, he has been very aware of what he had to improve in recent years and he has been achieving it,” Ferrero said of Sinner.
“He has a very experienced team around him that helps him a lot. He has matured a lot in the last year and he is very aware of the things he feels in the match and what he feels to win.
“He is going to be a very tough opponent and he is going to demand a lot from Carlos so that he does not fall asleep and continues to improve as much as possible to be on equal terms with Sinner and many others, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Rublev or Novak who is still there.”
Alcaraz could face Sinner at next week’s Qatar Open in Doha. Both men are signed up for the ATP 500 event, with Djokovic also in the draw. As the top two seeds, they could meet in the final.
