"It wasn't anymore a life of private jets and high standard hotels" - Juan Carlos Ferrero on difference between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev 

After a dream run in 2022, Carlos Alcaraz has continued to put up strong results in 2023. He has won two titles so far this year - the Argentina Open and the Indian Wells Masters.

Alcaraz, the youngest man and the first teenager to top the ATP singles rankings in the Open Era, often credits his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, for his success.

In a recent interview with Tennis Major, Ferrero opened up about his relationship with Alcaraz. Ferrero reflected on his first impressions of Alcaraz, mentioning how he met the World No. 2 and why he decided to be his coach.

Ferrero was coaching Alexander Zverev at the time who, the Spaniard claimed, flew in private jets and stayed in comfortable hotels. In contrast, Ferrero knew that working with Alcaraz would require a lot more work.

"It was a big decision to take. It was the opposite of what I lived with Zverev in the past. It wasn’t anymore a life of private jets and high standard hotels," he said.

Ferrero added that the 19-year-old's father Carlos Alcaraz González and his manager Albert Molina understood what building a team from the ground up entailed. That was another factor that pushed him to take on Alcaraz.

"His family is a tennis family because his father was a pro, it helped me to get it. And his manager, Albert Molina, is a guy I know for a long time. I have a very good relationship with him. To build a project from the beginning was something important for me," Ferrero said.

Ferrero parted ways with Zverev in 2018 and started working with Alcaraz soon after.

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Carlos Alcaraz on coach Juan Carlos Ferrero's influence beyond tennis

Carlos Alcaraz (L) with his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero began working together in 2019 and the partnership has been a hugely successful one.

Ferrero has shaped an amateur Alcaraz into a player with many singles titles to his name, including a Grand Slam title at the 2022 US Open. He has also helped his compatriot become World No. 1 — the youngest-ever top-ranked player in ATP history.

Ferrero's influence on Alcaraz extends beyond the tennis courts, as the young Spaniard has pointed out.

"Well, he's a lot older than me of course. And I have to learn from him all aspects, not only on the court. We practice just two hours or three hours on the court, the rest of the day have to learn how to be a better person, how to grow up as a person as well. So he teaches me a lot of things off the court as well," Alcaraz told Tennis Channel's Prakash Amritraj.