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Carlos Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero had a hilarious response to a question posed by his academy regarding the two Spaniards’ Barcelona Open titles.
Carlos Alcaraz emerged successful in defending a title for the first time in his young career at the recently concluded 2023 Barcelona Open. It is worth noting that the 19-year-old has followed in the footsteps of his coach and former Spanish professional tennis player Juan Carlos Ferrero by having his name etched on the trophy. Alcaraz’s coach Ferrero, who was also ranked World No. 1 similar to his pupil, was the Barcelona Open champion in 2001.
After Carlos Alcaraz’s recent win at the ATP 500 event, Juan Carlos Ferrero’s academy posed an amusing question on social media, revisiting the former Spanish player’s 2001 title win and asking tennis fans to make their pick on which one of the two kissed the Conde de Godo trophy better.
Replying to the same, the one-time Barcelona Open winner jokingly claimed that the debate is “unfair” since Alcaraz has already practiced kissing the trophy, owing to his title win last year.
“This isn’t fair. He practiced last year!” Juan Carlos Ferrero joked on his Instagram story.
"It wasn't anymore a life of private jets" – Juan Carlos Ferrero on the difference between working with Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev
Carlos Alcaraz and coach Juan Carlos Ferrero have established a highly successful partnership in a short span of time. The Spanish coach has been with the teenager ever since he turned pro in 2018. Under his mentorship, Alcaraz has earned numerous accolades, such as – becoming the youngest World No. 1 and winning nine titles, including three Masters and a Grand Slam at the US Open.
However, before teaming up with the current World No. 2, Juan Carlos Ferrero served as the coach of former World No. 2 Alexander Zverev from 2017-2018. The short-lived partnership had a bitter termination following Ferrero's disagreements with Zverev’s team.
Juan Carlos Ferrero recently revisited his time with the Olympic gold medalist. He compared the luxurious lifestyle of the German to his preferred, grounded lifestyle with Carlos Alcaraz.
"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 in an interview with Tennis Majors.
The former French Open champion also highlighted that working on a project from the outset was important to him. He thus accepted an offer from Alcaraz’s agent Albert Molina instead of working with an established athlete such as Zverev.
“I am a very strict person. Hard work is the only way that I know. He [Alcaraz’s agent] thought that Carlos needed something like this, someone to put order in his path. To build a project from the beginning was something important for me," Ferrero said.
Carlos Alcaraz is currently contesting the 2023 Madrid Open, where is looking for a second successful title defense. The young Spaniard won the Masters 1000 title last year by outclassing then defending champion Alexander Zverev in the final.
The World No. 2 is the top seed this year and will commence his campaign with a Round of 64 clash against Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori.
