"Look at Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal... We try to go for everything" - Carlos Alcaraz's coach confirms Spaniard's desire for Olympic gold

Carlos Alcaraz's coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, recently discussed the 20-year-old's aspiration for gold at the 2024 Olympics, drawing parallels with the enthusiasm shown by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal for the Olympics.

Since Alcaraz turned pro in 2018, he has won twelve career titles, including two Grand Slam and four Masters titles. However, the Spaniard is yet to represent his country at the Olympics.

Carlos Alcaraz is currently in Las Vegas for the NetflixSlam, and while in America, his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero was interviewed by a Spanish media outlet “Marca”.

During the interview, Carlos Ferrero was questioned about the level of anticipation that the 20-year-old is feeling ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games.

Ferrero stated that it was Alcaraz's first time at the Olympics and compared his excitement to that of Djokovic and also to Rafael Nadal when he won an Olympic gold.

“It's normal, they are his first Games, and he is extremely excited. Look at Djokovic how excited they are to him or Rafa how he lived when he won the gold,” Carlos Ferrero said

Carlos Ferrero went on to say that they are ambitious and focused on trying to go for everything they can to achieve the best results.

“The objectives for the season are all possible because we are very ambitious. We try to go for everything we can, the level is there and thinking about anything else would be a mistake. The main thing is to be well, to be happy, to train well and for the results to arrive,” Carlos Ferrero said.

Throughout Nadal's career, he has won two Olympic gold medals. He secured his first in the singles category at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and his second gold medal in the doubles category at the 2016 Rio Olympics, partnering with Mark Lopez.

As for Novak Djokovic, his best Olympic record is finishing with a bronze medal in 2008.

Carlos Alcaraz Chooses Olympic Gold Over French Open Title

Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 Australian Open

World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz was asked at a press conference, back in February at the Argentina Open, whether he would prefer winning the French Open or the Olympic gold, and the Spaniard chose the latter.

Alcaraz stated that winning the Olympic gold for Spain would be a dream come true. He added that despite his desire to win gold this year, he still aspires to win both the Olympic gold and the French Open title.

“I would say the Olympic title. It’s a dream for me to bring gold home to my country Spain. The gold medal is one of the greatest things in sport. I mean, I’d prefer to win Olympic gold this year… even though I’d like to win both, I won’t lie,” Carlos Alcaraz said

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Joseph is a Tennis journalist at Sportskeeda with over 4 years of experience in sports journalism. He holds a Law degree, but became a sports journalist out of his love for sports.

Joseph follows genuine pages on social media platforms, and verifies information via multiple sources to ensure accuracy in his articles. To stay up to date with the latest developments in the sport, he follows the WTA and ATP closely. His methods have helped him garner over 1.6 million views in just seven months at Sportskeeda.

He's a die-hard fan of Novak Djokovic, admiring not only his exceptional on-court skills, but also his off-court persona. For Joseph, the Serb is also the rightful recipient of the ‘GOAT’ tag and credits his achievement of 24 Grand Slam titles and reign of 422 weeks as World No.1.

The British culture and strict uniformity at the Wimbledon Championships make the event his favorite on the tennis calendar. Outside of tennis, Joseph passionately supports Manchester United and considers Lionel Messi the greatest sportsman of all time. In his leisure time, he enjoys expanding his horizons with documentaries, particularly those focusing on politics.

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Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer