Juan Carlos Ferrero, ahead of Carlos Alcaraz’s mouth-watering US Open clash with Novak Djokovic, has emerged to rate their time in New York so far.
For many, this has been a perfect tournament for the 22-year-old, storming through the draw without looking troubled at all.
And whilst many might point to the lack of suitable opponents, it is still no mean feat to brush aside top-level players without dropping a single set.
However, as touched upon, finally we are set to get the showdown that everybody wanted when the US Open draw emerged.
Ferrero has now previewed that match, whilst speaking to Sky Sports.
Juan Carlos Ferrero previews Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak Djokovic
However, he started by admitting that even he has been taken aback by the level that Carlos Alcaraz, his young protege, has been exhibiting.
The coach and former Grand Slam champion claimed: “It has been amazing. He’s playing a brutal tennis. I think he is almost, you know, winning all matches without losing a set, which is something that has never happened before.
“But I think consistently, he grew up a little bit as a mature person, and now he’s playing so much better than maybe, you know, let’s say a couple of months ago, and it’s one of the keys that he needs to really get to the final.”
Then asked about the upcoming match against Novak Djokovic, he continued: “Yeah, Novak I think is giving his best, maybe thinking about the future, and you know, right now, I think he knows that he has this chance in front of him.
“He reached all the semi-finals in Grand Slams [this year] and I think he wants to go for it. So we are pretty sure that he’s gonna give absolutely his 100%. He’s very motivated.
“He wants to win the tournament, so Carlos has to play his best, absolutely, and try to, you know, put the rhythm that he has that is very high and try to be very focused all the time, not giving him ups and downs, playing very consistently all the time. And then we’ll see.
“Novak has always surprised all the world, so we’ll see what happens.”
Elsewhere, Djokovic has already given his thoughts on having to face Alcaraz in the US Open semi-final.
Carlos Alcaraz has to end his brief losing run to Novak Djokovic
Whilst Jannik Sinner’s ruthless, physical brand of tennis has brushed aside Djokovic when they have played in recent years, Alcaraz has instead been dragged into dogfights.
This is exactly what the Serbian wants when facing these young superstars, who naturally are far more prepared to engage in long, gruelling affairs.
In Australia earlier this year, his disruption of the match through medical timeouts and slow serving forced the Spaniard into a strange mental state, where at one point he appeared to mock Djokovic’s limp.
Then, last summer, he simply came up against a dogged, desperate individual who was not going to blow his last chance at Olympic glory.
Although only two matches long, these were crucial ones in Alcaraz’s quest to complete the sport as quickly as possible. He will be keen to enact revenge here in New York and end this brief but brutal losing run.
