Carlos Alcaraz brushes off Roger Federer coaching question and praises Juan Carlos Ferrero
World number one Carlos Alcaraz underlined his respect for coach Carlos Ferrero as he batted away questions about being under the tutelage of idol Roger Federer.
As a guest on a Spanish show, Alcaraz was asked whether he would accept the Swiss as his coach if he was offered the opportunity, given his impending retirement from the sport on Friday. The youngster was instead quick to praise Ferrero.
The Spaniard responded, ”I couldn’t [replace Ferrero with Federer]. I’ve always said that Juan Carlos is my second father, I wouldn’t change him for the world.”
Alcaraz had previously crediting Ferrero for his role in making him a slam champion at the age of just 19.
”Thanks to him I’m lifting this trophy today. He could train a lot of top players, but he decided to be with me at 16. Juan Carlos to me means everything,” Alcaraz said after defeating Casper Ruud in four sets in New York. He also became the youngest man to lead the ATP rankings since they were drawn up in 1973 with victory.
Despite Alcaraz taking the tennis world by storm over recent months and a major under his belt, Ferrero had commented that the current world number one was still far from realizing his true potential.
”As I tell him, I think he’s on 60% of his game. He can improve a lot of things. He knows and I know that we have to keep working,” Ferrero said. ”You have to keep working and keep playing at a huge level in those tournaments to keep winning. He knows that and I know that.”
The nineteen-year-old Spainard was fulfilling media duties on a rare day off, having defeated Kwon Soon-woo in straight sets to secure Spain’s passage into the quarter finals of the Davis Cup only the day before. He won 6-4 7-6 (1) in front of a home crowd in Valencia.
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