Spanish coach Juan Carlos Ferrero revealed on Friday that he often thought about how he could help Carlos Alcaraz become a better person and tennis player, noting that managing off-court demands was the toughest challenge when he coached the world number one.
“My question, time and again, was whether I was doing everything possible to help him (Alcaraz) improve. I kept asking myself how he could grow as a person and as a player. (…) You need to ask yourself that, because when you settle, progress stops,” he said.
Spanish coach Juan Carlos Ferrero revealed on Friday that he often thought about how he could help Carlos Alcaraz become a better person and tennis player, noting that managing off-court demands was the toughest challenge when he coached the world number one.
“My question, time and again, was whether I was doing everything possible to help him (Alcaraz) improve. I kept asking myself how he could grow as a person and as a player. (…) You need to ask yourself that, because when you settle, progress stops,” he said.
Sinner was always the focus
Ferrero revealed that “the serve was always the shot” Alcaraz worked hardest to improve – “year after year, we refined the technique” – and that, “with all due respect to other players,” Jannik Sinner was always the main target of the specific work he did with the 22-year-old Murcian.
Retired since 2012, ‘The Mosquito’, as he was known, repeatedly stressed the importance of the team around the player, which needs to understand his personality, and highlighted as crucial for future tennis stars the “willingness to keep improving.”
The Valencian, accompanied by his longtime coach Antonio Martinez Cascales, admitted he accepted to coach Alcaraz because he missed “living those moments, going from zero to the top.”
“I enjoyed experiencing as a coach what I lived as a player,“ he concluded, saying he went as far as he could, never mentioning his bitter split from the ATP ranking leader.
The 46-year-old Spaniard also described his experience at his academy, where he focuses on a more personalised and “family-like” approach with future players.
“It’s very important that a coach doesn’t just do things his own way. You have to know the player and how to make the most of his personality,” he said, arguing that technique is “important, especially when they’re young,” and that ideally you want “an explosive, flexible, and fast player.”
Asked to name the most common mistake made by aspiring tennis players at his academy, Ferrero pointed to what he calls “the invisible game.”
“Most players don’t use the information from their shot to anticipate how the next ball will come. (…) Many young players wait to see how the ball comes and don’t react in time. (…) You have to explain it to the player; it’s like a chess game. I used this approach with Carlos in recent years,” he revealed.
Feeling “at home” in Portugal, where he has travelled since childhood, the Spanish coach also spoke about the ups and downs of his career, choosing his first Davis Cup title, his victory at Roland Garros, and reaching world number one as his best moments as a player.
“Be patient with the kids, because a coach’s job covers several areas: coach, psychologist (…) and even a bit of a parent,” he said in closing, addressing the Portuguese coaches who filled the stands at the Jamor Tennis High Performance Centre.