"As much credit as Juan Carlos Ferrero gets, don't think it's enough"- Andy Roddick on Carlos Alcaraz's coach "lacking ego" while raising a champion

Andy Roddick recently gave his thoughts on Carlos Alcaraz's coach Juan Carlos Ferrero's humility in nurturing a "Grand Slam champion." Alacarz recently won the 2024 French Open title under Ferrero's tutelage.

Alcaraz began his training under Ferrero at the age of 15. With Ferrero's guidance, the Spaniard has achieved remarkable success, securing three Grand Slam titles, the 2022 US Open, the 2023 Wimbledon Championship, and most recently, the French Open. He also has claimed five Masters 1000 titles and had reached the World No.1 ranking.

During a recent episode of "Served with Andy Roddick" podcast, Roddick showered Juan Carlos Ferrero with praise. He expressed astonishment at the dedication required for a coach of Ferrero's caliber to leave behind his established life and commit to training a 15-year-old, as was the case with Carlos Alcaraz.

"[Juan Carlos] Ferrero too often gets lumped into this celebrity coaching thing. I right now as I stand, I don't think I could see a 14-year-old on Earth where I would give up my life as it currently stands to go work with a 14-year-old to develop them into a champion that is not the same as someone coming in with a 21-22 year old who's already kind of established or won Slams. He has developed a Grand Slam champion as a celebrity coach that is extremely different," Roddick said [42:34].

Roddick also talked about Ferrero's impeccable techniques and his ability to impart them to the World No.2 player.

"There's the technical part which he's never not prepared for, like his technique is phenomenal and he's developing a slice that looked a little weird to years ago and you kind of can see that that's a continuation, the strategic part of it and how to deliver a strategic message and also how to articulate that message," he added [43:01].

Roddick stated that he appreciates the strong bond between Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Alcaraz and also noted the deep understanding that exists between them.

"What he's done to kind of develop the technical part at a young age, to develop the relationship part of there's no breakage. They [Ferrero and Carlos Alcaraz] don't yell at each other during matches, all of these things are not something that I don't think I can know what's happening," Andy Roddick said [43:29].

The American marveled at Ferrero's willingness to teach Alcaraz a playing style that is very different from his own and attributed this trait to a remarkable lack of ego on Ferrero's part.

In Andy Roddick's view, Juan Carlos Ferrero does not receive the recognition he deserves for his exceptional coaching abilities.

"To teach someone to play completely different than you did takes a certain amount of like a lack of ego and I don't think Ferrero as much credit as he gets for the job he's done I still don't think it enough," he added [44:12].

"Juan Carlos Ferrero saw Carlos Alcaraz compete, he liked it and we started working" - Spaniard's agent Alberto Molina

Carlos Alcaraz with his team

In a recent interview, Carlos Alcaraz's agent, Albert Molina revealed how Juan Carlos Ferrero began coaching the Spaniard.

Molina explained that he introduced Alcaraz to Ferrero with the intention of helping him enhance his playing technique and skills by training at Ferrero's academy.

"I had been telling him [Juan Carlos Ferrero] for a long time that I had a 14-year-old boy who I saw different things about. And we talked about how to introduce Carlos [Alacaraz] to the academy punctually because he was a plus in terms of training, technicians," Molina was quoted saying by El Partidazo de Cope (translated from Spanish).

Molina disclosed that he had presented 15-year-old Carlos Alcaraz's portfolio to Juan Carlos Ferrero, hoping that Ferrero would coach Alcaraz for the junior tournaments in Europe and South America. Ferrero had then travelled to Murica to watch the young Spaniard play and agreed to train him after being impressed with his talent.

"I went with a proposal from a 15-year-old player, so that he could go to play in the juniors in South America and tournaments in Europe in a category that was not top level, to which Juan was used to. In the end he had already seen him, he came to Murcia, he saw him compete, he was convinced of the project, he liked it and we started working," he added.

After a successful end to his clay season, Carlos Alcaraz will next head to England to play his first grass-court tournament of 2024 at the Queen's Club Championships.