While the wound of the separation from mentor and main coach Juan Carlos Ferrero is still healing, preparations are being made Carlos Alcaraz intensively preparing for a top start to 2026. The focus is primarily on service.
by Clemens Engert
last edited: January 1, 2026, 8:45 p.m
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Samuel López, who became Alcaraz’s main coach after Ferrero’s departure, was always keen for the six-time major champion to pay a lot of attention to his serve. Even before parting ways with Ferrero, Carlitos was steadily improving in this area of his game under Lopez’s supervision.
This work on opening the game now appears to be intensified ahead of the start of the 2026 season. Numerous videos on social media showing the world number one’s pre-season training sessions bear witness to this.
As the videos show, the 22-year-old from Murcia apparently modified something in the movement of throwing the ball. The Spaniard now seems to raise the ball to chest height, almost to his neck, before he swings to strike. This sequence of movements is strikingly reminiscent of Novak Djokovic’s serve movement. So it’s quite possible that the Lopez-Alcaraz team consciously copied something from the most successful tennis player of all time. The Serb has successfully adapted his service again and again throughout his career and is now one of the most efficient servers on the tour.
How well Alcaraz’s new serve works at a competitive level will only be seen at the Australian Open. The main competition of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year starts on January 18th. The world number one only competes in exhibitions beforehand.
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Novak Djokovic
Carlos Alcaraz
