Why Carlos Alcaraz's coach Juan Carlos Ferrero's absence was a good thing for Spaniard at Monte-Carlo Masters

Despite the absence of his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Alcaraz has proved his mettle to the tennis world yet again by conquering his first Masters 1000 of this year, the Monte-Carlo Masters. This is the 21-year-old's sixth such title.

Alcaraz's relation with his coach, Ferrero, a former World No. 1 and Grand Slam champion, has been under scrutiny for a while now, with many believing it is time for the former to let go of the latter in order to develop his game. Many fans also believe that the 21-year-old has developed a dependency on Ferrero's coaching and needs his advice and presence constantly to bring out his best tennis.

However, the 21-year-old, who has now won 18 titles under Ferrero's tutelage, has proved people wrong by winning his most recent titles without his coach's presence.

Seeded second and receiving a bye in the opening round, the Spaniard kicked off his campaign by coming back from a one-set deficit against Francisco Cerundolo, following which he decimated Daniel Altmaier. He then survived another one-set deficit to defeat 12th seed Arthur Fils and claimed a hard-fought straight-set win against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to reach the final.

In the final, Carlos Alcaraz faced 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti and lost the opening set for the third time in his campaign. However, the Spaniard yet again clinched a resilient comeback to win the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 and also the sixth Masters 1000 of his career.

Alcaraz, who has also been working with another coach, Samuel Lopez, has been seeing amazing results in his presence. This was the second triumph for the Spaniard when Lopez traveled with him, the first one being the Rotterdam Open earlier this year. This makes one wonder if the four-time Grand Slam champion is really dependent on Ferrero's presence to bring out his best.

Interestingly, it looks like Carlos Alcaraz has been doing extremely well, even without Juan Carlos Ferrero in the stands. These are positive signs for the 21-year-old because it means that his best tennis isn't dependent on any external factors, but only on himself. The triumph in Monte-Carlo will only build the Spaniard's confidence moving forward as he eyes defending his French Open title.

How Carlos Alcaraz battled the heavy burden of expectations en route to winning Monte-Carlo Masters

Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters - Day Eight - Source: Getty

Carlos Alcaraz is a winner of four Grand Slams, six Masters 1000, an Olympic silver, reached the former World No. 1, and so many other accolades, which have shot the expectations of tennis fans to an astronomical level. However, the expectations are also a bane when the Spaniard faces a slump in form, with people asking him to change his team and questioning his consistency.

Though people wish for the former World No. 1 to make massive changes to his team, Alcaraz, who has been battling the high expectations of his fans for many years, explicitly addressed the doubts about his team after reaching the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters.

"It’s been a long time,” Alcaraz said. “But I just had to be patient. I had to believe that this moment would come again. Just working hard. Probably people are not patient.. they want me to make a final in every tournament. So I’m really happy to give them the chance to watch one of my finals again,” Carlos Alcaraz said.

He may have his fair share of disagreements with his coach, but that doesn't mean the 21-year-old is unhappy with the cards he has.

"I’m happy with my team and with everything we’ve done in this period since the last final. I’m gonna try to enjoy this moment,” he added.

Carlos Alcaraz has had the dream start to his clay swing and will look to build on this momentum at the Barcelona Open, where he is slated to be the top seed. He also overtook his rival Jannik Sinner to lead the ATP Finals race and has also overtaken Alexander Zverev to become the new World No. 2.