Alexander Zverev was an apt opponent for Carlos Alcaraz in his last match before the French Open.
It was Zverev, who had unceremoniously dumped his coach, the former world No1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, after a row at the 2018 Australian Open. And the German has had a propensity to burn through high-profile coaches ever since.
Ferrero took a gamble in his next coaching move to start working with a then 15-year-old Alcaraz. In Madrid 12 days ago, the teenager bulldozed Zverev aside 6-3, 6-1 having knocked out Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the preceding rounds.
For a player who has only once made it past the third round of a Grand Slam, he is now second favourite to win the French Open behind Djokovic, an event his coach won back in 2003.
The 42-year-old remembers thinking he was taking a gamble in their coaching partnership but saw a myriad of things in Alcaraz’s game that told him it was worth taking a chance.
“I saw different things that I liked a lot, even in just how he competes,” he recalls. “Of course, it was risky and I remember his manager recommending I think a lot about it. It was going to be different to Sascha [Zverev] or Pablo Carreño-Busta. There were many things to work on but I felt motivated by the project. So, I took the leap.”
Unexpectedly, Alcaraz is now the world’s form player in the men’s game with three titles to his name having won Miami and Barcelona prior to his most recent triumph in Madrid. He is now up to sixth in the world, a rapid rise which has even taken his coach by surprise.
“I expected he was going to end top 10 at the end of the year and I thought maybe he could do better but, for sure, I’m still surprised with the great results coming so soon,” said Ferrero.
Inevitably, it has brought comparisons to another countryman. Last month when he climbed into the top 10 for the first time, he was the youngest player in men’s tennis to do so since Nadal although a month older than Nadal was at the time.
Their ability to adapt to any surface combined with their refusal to give up – it was telling how an injured Alcaraz dug deep to oust his fellow Spaniard in Madrid – also extend the likeness.
Nadal said it was unfair on the up-and-coming player to compare but Ferrero said it was impossible to shy away from the likeness. “Yes, he reminds me of Rafa in that situation,” said Ferrero. “They’re both reaching great things in similarly young ages. In Spain, we are noticing a great excitement about him.”
But Ferrero believes having Djokivic and Alcaraz as favouries for Roland Garros ahead of Nadal is wrong despite Nadal’s foot issue. He added: “Rafa is still the main favourrite for Roland Garros. Comparing a kid with three titles to Nadal with 13 French Opens is out of sense.”
Despite that, he still believes Alcaraz has the ability to win the French Open, and to prepare his body for the rigours of it withdrew him from the preceding Italian Open, which Djokovic went on to win.
“We have the objective of going there and try to win it,” said Ferrero. “This will be really hard but we think we’re ready for it. I really think he has possibilities although he is not the main favourite.”
For all he has achieved in 2022, Ferrero still thinks he can improve in every aspect of his game: serve, return, passing shots, even the combativity which has been such a trademark of his play already this season.
“There’s good work to do and space for improvement yet,” said his coach. “But he is a 360 complete player. He has so many good things, so many resources. That’s his best facet. This makes it hard for his rivals to compete against him.”
Ferrero is conscious of the spotlight and expectation on a player so young. He had it too when, aged 20, he reached the semi-finals of the French Open for the first time. Having that experience in his locker, he argues, helps in how he guides his player and prepares him for the big tournaments. But it is something he admits is a work in progress.
Despite that, he is not about to dampen the enthusiasm over the player. He said: “He has proven he can compete against the best and we have settled objectives: become a Grand Slam champion and become No1. But we won’t start thinking if he can win more than one when he hasn’t eve had the chance to get one yet.”
