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Carlos Alcaraz recently sent a touching message about his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero. Through the message, Alcaraz laid bare how much Ferrero has contributed to not just his tennis over the years but also his life outside the court.
Ferrero, a former No. 1 who won the 2003 French Open and 15 other ATP Tour-level titles, began coaching Alcaraz in 2019 shortly after parting ways with Alexander Zverev. Under the 45-year-old's tutelage, Alcaraz has established himself as one of the most dominant players in contemporary men's tennis and won four Grand Slam titles, five Masters 1000s, and a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In a recent interview with Louis Vuitton, Carlos Alcaraz thanked Juan Carlos Ferrero for shaping him into the formidable ATP force he is today. He also revisited the time spent together, particularly during the first few years of their collaboration.
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"Well, probably thanks to Juan Carlos I'm the player that I am right now. I learned a lot from him. At the beginning of our partnership, we spent a lot of time together. We travelled a lot, just him and me. And thanks to that I could learn a lot from him as a person, as a player," Alcaraz said (from 2:18).
The ATP No. 3 went on to share an important lesson Ferrero taught him about the significance of off-court life and how it can impact on-court performances.
"He taught me about the importance of being off the court, that I have to be a good person off the court and the things that you're doing outside is going to have a huge impact on the court. So, that's taught me a lot. Since I was 16, 17 years old, I started to think about all the things I'm doing off the court just to get better and make sure it's going to be good on court," he added.
Last year, Alcaraz spoke up about the nature of his relationship with Ferrero.
Carlos Alcaraz revealed "tough" but "funny" Juan Carlos Ferrero reality last year
In a candid 2024 interview with Relevo, Carlos Alcaraz opened up about his relationship with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. According to Alcaraz, Ferrero is a strict taskmaster most of the time in a bid to make him more disciplined. However, the ATP No. 3 added that at times, Ferrero knows how to diffuse tense situations with a dash of humor.
"He is tough. He is a very serious person when he has to be, when it comes to work and discipline, he is very hard on you. But he is also very, very funny when he has to be. He knows how to differentiate the moments very well," Alcaraz said.
So far this season, Carlos Alcaraz has won one ATP Tour-level singles title, the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam. It marked the Spaniard's 17th ATP title triumph under Ferrero's tutelage. His next competitive outing is set to come at the Monte-Carlo Masters, the first Masters 1000 event of the European claycourt swing.
