Ferrero: “Working with Zverev was not easy for me”

Carlos Alcaraz will face the 2023 season from the top of tennis in a year that the tennis player from El Palmar will begin at the next Australian Open with new challenges.

In an interview with Eurosport, Juan Carlos FerreroAlcaraz’s coach, analyzed how his pupil could maintain his level to continue at the top of tennis and for this he believes that it is necessary for Alcaraz to face Novak Djokovic in tournaments. “We need Djokovic. I think that for Carlos to improve his tennis, he needs to play against one of the best in history. Of course Rafa Nadal will also go to Australia to play against Carlos and Djokovic, we need him too. In Madrid Carlos played against Djokovic and Novak raised his level to try to win his match, and that is what we need: to play against him in Grand Slam. I think it is very important for Carlos to improve”.

Ferrero warns of the great state of form of the Serbian after his great second half of the season, where he has shown why he is still among the tennis elite. “I think that after the US Open, where he couldn’t play, Djokovic has been very focused on showing that he is capable of winning almost every tournament he plays, and we have seen that he is capable of that. He has shown all the players that he is at a high level. And I think the possibility of him playing in Australia makes him and the rest of the players very happy”

A return of Djokovic to Australia that both Ferrero and Alcaraz applaud, since the coach believes that if his pupil wants to be champion, he must beat the best. “Carlos and I talked about how happy it makes us to see Djokovic in Australia because if you want to win the Australian Open, you have to beat the best and of course that’s good news. I was not surprised that he won the ATP Finals in Turin.”

Ferrero also confesses that he has told Alcaraz that they must work even harder than before to try to stay in the tennis elite. “I have told Carlos that now we have to work even harder because, if you want to stay at the top now, you need to win Grand Slams and Masters 1,000 consistently. It is more difficult than before since you could win an ATP 500 and achieve a great result in a Masters 1,000 to move up the rankings. But now, if you want to stay on top, you have to beat the best and you have to win the best tournaments. That is why it is more important to work the same or harder than before”

A coach-player relationship that Ferrero is proud of and that he did not hesitate to compare with his first experience as a coach with the German Alexander Zverev. ”Carlos is like another son to me, the eldest of them. He is the second player I have coached and I think I can learn from him and he from me. We grow together at the same time. He’s a great guy and it’s very easy to work with him. I know I needed something like this because working with Zverev was not easy for me. It is not the same culture and he understands in a slightly different way what it means to be professional. I needed to reset a bit and work with someone who had the same character as me and who wanted the same for the future and I think I found that in Carlos”.