Carlos Alcaraz's coach recalls teenager's history of overusing dropshots against his wishes

Carlos Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero recently gave some background on the teenage prodigy's extensive use of drop shots. Ferrero's comments came right after Alcaraz claimed his ninth career title at the 2023 Barcelona Open.

Alcaraz’s penchant for drop shots is no secret. The 19-year-old has been relentlessly using the clever ploy against all of his opponents, scoring crucial points with the move more often than not.

That was the case even during during Alcaraz's match against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Barcelona Open last week. During the 6-3, 6-4 victory, Alcaraz produced as many as 10 drop shot winners against the Greek tennis star.

Before the match, the Spaniard had revealed that using the drop shot was one of his major strategies against Tsitsipas.

"I would say Tsitsipas is one of the players that I hit a lot of drop shots against and I win almost every one," Carlos Alcaraz said with a grin in a video for TennisTV.

The 2022 US Open champion’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero subsequently made a surprising revelation, stating that they hardly practice the technique during training.

"The drop shots are what we train the least in length, he has it more than measured so we didn't train it," the Spanish coach said during his appearance on El Larguero.

Ferrero also confessed that he isn’t in favor of Alcaraz's overuse of drop shots. The former World No. 1 revealed that he gave Alcaraz the green signal to use the shot within limits during the Barcelona Open final against Tsitsipas, because he had noticed the Greek's relative ineptitude in sprinting forward.

"We realised that if Tsitsipas went backwards, the race towards front is what is most difficult for him. I told him, 'Carlos, you can do it but don't go too far', but as he saw that they were coming out [well], he didn't [stop]," Ferrero said.

The coach also narrated a previous incident where Alcaraz disobeyed his orders of limiting the drop shots and then provided a cheeky response.

"Once, in Seville, he had been playing at the age of 16. He came to do so many, that I told him 'Don't do one again,' and [seconds later], he does one. And he tells me, 'I couldn't help it,'" Ferrero recalled.

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Carlos Alcaraz gears up to defend Madrid Open title

Carlos Alcaraz is the Madrid Open defending champion

After a successful week at the 2023 Barcelona Open, Carlos Alcaraz is now gearing up to defend yet another title - the Masters 1000 Madrid Open.

Alcaraz created history at this very event in 2022, as he recorded a win over compatriot Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals before beating Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. The youngster secured the title by defeating defending champion Alexander Zverev in the final.

Alcaraz is the top seed this time around, and has received a bye in the opening round. He will hope to take advantage of the support of his home crowd when he takes to the court in pursuit of his fourth title of 2023.

The World No. 2 will take on the winner of the Round-of-128 clash between Emil Ruusuvuori and Ugo Humbert in his first match of the tournament.