“He’s not at 100 percent yet” tennisnet.com

Juan Carlos Ferrero has in an interview about his protégé Carlos Alcaraz voiced. And the 19-year-old still has some potential for improvement.

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Grand Slam title and world number one. Should Carlos Alcaraz end his career tomorrow, he should already look back with satisfaction. But of course the 19-year-old is still a long way from that. Because the Spaniard wants to go down in the history books as one of the best players of all time, as he recently emphasized.

If his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero has his way, this undertaking seems quite realistic. The 43-year-old spoke about his protégé’s abilities in an interview with “Tennis Majors”. “He’s 19 years old. He’s playing at the highest level, but of course he’s not at 100 percent yet. A tennis player has to improve all his life and Carlos has to be able to do that in his career,” said Ferrero .

Alcaraz stands out from other players

One of Alcaraz’ greatest strengths is being able to adapt to different opponents and game situations. In addition, the 19-year-old can act strategically on the pitch. A difference to many other players, according to Ferrero: “Right now I feel like there are too many people ‘destroying’ the game and not building the point.”

How many different weapons Alcaraz has in his arsenal has been demonstrated many times in his young career. In his youth, the multitude of opportunities to win the point was not always an advantage. “Because he’s more mature and has more experience, he seems to be able to hold it together better now,” said Ferrero.

Alcaraz thinks “super big”

Not least because of his nationality, Alcaraz has been repeatedly associated with Rafael Nadal. That was a big challenge for the current world number two, as he wants to put his own stamp on the sport. Ferrero cannot estimate whether 22 Grand Slam titles are also realistic for Alcaraz. But: “The only thing I can say is that he thinks super big.”

For the time being, however, Alcaraz has to pause. “Post-traumatic arthritis in the left hand and muscular problems in the spine” make it impossible to compete in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo. Accordingly, the Spaniard will start the clay court season at the earliest at the ATP 500 event in Barcelona (April 17th to 23rd).

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Carlos Alcaraz