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Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, has given his opinion on the controversy of Carlos Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, publicly questioning his commitment to tennis. Mouratoglou said the issue is serious and if not handled properly, it could damage their coach-player relationship in the long run.
Mouratoglou is a veteran coach who has worked with several big names besides Williams, including Simona Halep, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune, and now Naomi Osaka. He is currently guiding the four-time Grand Slam winner as she continues her comeback and tries to rediscover her peak form.
The Frenchman often shares his thoughts on trending tennis topics through Instagram reels. In his latest video, he addressed the part in the Netflix documentary 'Carlos Alcaraz: My Way' in which Ferrero admitted he was concerned about Alcaraz’s commitment and questioned the youngster's choice of unwinding.
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"What Carlos has accomplished at a young age is unbelievable,” Patrick Mouratoglou said. “I was very surprised to read that his coach said publicly that he was not committing 100%. It will bring a lot of criticism. It's really difficult to manage that. Apparently, the way he deals with pressure is to not commit 100%, which is actually a behavior that is quite usual for professional athletes. That's a way to take pressure away.”
He added:
“Is it a right way? For sure not. I would try to solve the problem between him and me. His coach probably did try and probably doesn't work. So, probably he goes to the next level. Ferrero is trying to motivate his player. Is it the right way? I don't know. If it works, then bravo. If it hurts the player and hurts the relationship between the two, then I would say it's not a good job.”
Mouratoglou also expressed concern about how Carlos Alcaraz might react to Juan Carlos Ferrero’s approach, saying:
“We will see what are the consequences — the positive one or the negative one, or maybe a bit of both. Let's see how Carlos receives it. Maybe he will have a reaction to that — a positive one. But it's risky."
Carlos Alcaraz has Juan Carlos Ferrero by his side at Italian Open
Carlos Alcaraz has arrived in Rome for the Italian Open, with his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero back by his side. He had to skip the Madrid Open due to injury concerns picked up during the final of the Barcelona Open.
Interestingly, Ferrero was absent from Alcaraz’s team during several key tournaments earlier this year, including the Australian Open, with Samuel Lopez stepping in as the second coach. The reason for Ferrero’s absence hasn’t been publicly revealed, but his return now signals stability in the camp.
Alcaraz enters the ATP Masters 1000 tournament as the third seed and will begin his campaign in the second round, where he’ll face either Yoshihito Nishioka or Dusan Lajovic having received a first-round bye.
