Ferrero, Juan Carlos, Juanki in confidence, smile and celebrate after closing a perfect circle. The double summit in Paris: first as a player, that mosquito fluttering and with blonde highlights that itched with enthusiasm and success, winner in 2003 after having lost the final the previous year, Albert Costa’s turn, redemption later; and now from the bench, where the loudspeaker constantly rings. “It’s true that you don’t have to be as on top of him as when he was 15, 16 or 17 years old, because now he is a player who is already acquiring the necessary experience to realize when he is failing at something, or when he really needs to improve.” in something else. But you always have to be a little bit on top of him to try to get him to really open his eyes wide…”, explains the coach, always alert, without losing sight of any detail so that Carlitos, a clueless genius, does not let his guard down and go to take a walk for some hidden thought.
“He lost one of the sets because he didn’t get overwhelmed, he couldn’t find the space. It was a very long final, so I asked him to be brave and he was brave until the end. We know about his potential, the level is there, but he has to work,” says the happy, fulfilled coach, very satisfied because a couple of months ago there was some dark cloud — the tricks of the pronator muscle — and it finally cleared up. The pain diminished, the fear disappeared and the confidence of a tennis player who celebrates today grew exponentially: Carlos, Carlitos, Alcaraz already in the history of the tournament, a Murcian footprint on the same court where the Valencian left his more than two decades ago, exactly when the El Palmar player was born. From time to time, the stars align and the opportunity arose to bring them together in a tandem that may not have come to fruition.
After a half-year experience with Zverev, which left him with a bad impression because the German did not fit his work code, the coach received several offers to train top tennis players. However, Alcaraz’s agent, Albert Molina, then (2018) told him to take a look at a kid he surprised. One training session was enough to make a decision. “He was out of the ordinary,” he reasons. So right away, road and blanket. They explored the junior circuit hand in hand and entered professionalism in the challengers. Ferrero always remembers all those hours together on the road, moving, for example, from one state to another in Brazil. The rest, a lot of background work and inertia. The raw material was extraordinary. “It’s very good.”
It was also Ferrero, who reached the top and navigated the dangerous waters of fame after becoming a hero, with the conquest of the Sant Jordi Davis Cup (2000), and the subsequent victory in Paris. Therefore, he knows very well what message he transmits to his player, when to press more or less. He defined Alcaraz as a “second father”, then as a “friend” and, now, the relationship has evolved towards the acquisition of greater individual responsibility on the part of the player. He is no longer the teenager of 15 years old or the kid of 17, when he had already left clues – he achieved his first victory in the ATP at 16 – and adaptation to the professional routine is not an easy process. Make the whys and restrictions understood.
Ear pulling
Ferrero answers this newspaper: “The relationship remains the same, very close, which can be differentiated at times of the day; There are many in which I am a coach, pure and simple, and there are others in which I am a friend, because of the jokes we make and because we are always together. And the father thing… he really left it to his father. [risas]. For kids, as they get older, it’s hard for them to always say yes. As for the maturation process, it’s in it; It is slow and over time it will do it naturally. At 21 years old I think no one has been mature. Playing tennis can make him mature much sooner, but I think he still needs to.”
Alcaraz, meanwhile, continues to discover the ins and outs of a complex and demanding profession, which practically admits no respite and which erodes due to the daily repetition it demands. From time to time he gets a slap on the wrist for punctuality or some other mistake, and when he doesn’t see it clearly, he refutes, but in general terms he continues to be a rather docile boy, with the hunger and appetite that has guided him. into history at an unusual age. The club of the chosen ones to which he claims not to belong, while the facts continue to contradict him again and again.
At the request of Morning Express, he responds: “Our relationship is very good. Juan Carlos and I have lived many moments together, so one hundred percent trust, complete. Obviously, I am growing and assuming responsibilities; what people do when they get older… But the relationship is still exceptional, both between him and my environment and vice versa. Zero complaints and a lot to be grateful for everything he has done for me, and for everything he continues to do.”
HALF TITLES, ON CLAY
AC | Paris
Alcaraz was crowned after the successes of Manolo Santana (1961 and 1964), Andrés Gimeno (1972), Sergi Bruguera (1993 and 1994), Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1989, 1994 and 1998), Carlos Moyà (1998), Albert Costa (2002 ), Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003), Rafael Nadal (2006, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2001, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022), Garbiñe Muguruza (2016).
With three majorsAlready on the shelf, the Murcian distances himself from Muguruza and Bruguera, and becomes the fourth national tennis player to achieve more than two. Arantxa and Manuel Santana reached four, and Nadal has the stratospheric record of 22.
He now has 14 titles, half of them obtained on clay. Apart from the one achieved this June 9 in Paris, there are those from Barcelona (2), Madrid (2), Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Umag; the latter, the first on the ATP circuit.
Champion in March in Indian Wells, this season he has added two laurels, with a view to what lies ahead: the grass tour, the Games, the US Open, the Laver Cup, the Asian tour and, depending on events, the Davis Cup.
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