Juan Carlos Ferrero has asserted that Carlos Alcaraz can improve by not ‘opening doors’ for opponents and taking leaps in decision making process during his matches.
The top Spanish coach assessed that Alcaraz is an emotional athlete and has suggested than this can be both positive and negative for his charge, who he believes will make the necessary improvements by gaining experience.
Alcaraz folded a superb 2023 campaign at the ATP Finals in Turin last week where he lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semis – in straight-sets – in what was his debut at the season-ending championships, having missed the 2022 edition after picking up an injury.
The 20-year-old claimed 6 ATP titles and registered 65-12 (84.4%) win record in 2023 season. The highlight of his impressive run was his five-set epic victory against Djokovic in the Wimbledon Championships in July. While earning his second Grand Slam crown, the Spaniard conquered Masters 1000 titles in Indian Wells and Madrid, ATP 500 events in Barcelona and Queens and ATP 250 in Buenos Aires.
Talking to popular Spanish news publisher, Marca, Ferrero discussed how his pupil can continue progress and elaborated his ATP #2 charge’s comments on Djokovic not giving opponents any chances by making mistakes.
“Be more regular in games, not open doors. Sometimes there are mistakes and it is something that we have to improve a lot. Although it is true that he opens doors, he always competes well and at the highest level,” said the 2003 Roland Garros Champion.
“He knows it, the other day he already said that Novak doesn’t give you one. He has to improve his decision making and he will achieve that with experience. Carlos is very emotional and that sometimes helps him and other times not so much.”
The former World No. 1 also outlined the physical work as a priority in Alcaraz’s training for the upcoming season.
“Because of the year and the fatigue he has been in, what he needs is rest and disconnecting for 8-10 days with his friends. From there, the thinking must go back to working really hard, strong and well to start very strongly in Australia,” said Ferrero.
When asked if exhibition play will be enough to prepare his pupil for the season-opening Grand Slam and not entering any lead-up tournaments to the Melbourne Park, he replied:
“One can never be sure of that. Sometimes you play a tournament and it doesn’t go well, you left home too early. There are many ways of thinking. This year we haven’t played Australia and he finishes number two. That means there is no urgency to play a tournament early,” said Ferrero.
“Carlos is a player who enters competition quickly, you don’t usually see him without rhythm. Although it is true that he becomes more dangerous from the round of 16, from the quarter-finals. I am confident that the two exhibition matches and the training sessions will help us play a good tournament.”
Alcaraz missed the 2023 Australian Open due to a leg injury and has had some hiccups in the latter part of his 2023 campaign. It will be interesting to see how he starts 2024.