Carlos Alcaraz started as well as he could on his return to the court: with victory in the 250 of Buenos Aires and title number 7 in the bag. His coach, the former tennis player Juan Carlos Ferrerospoke in an interview with journalist Javier De Diego about the injury suffered by the young Spaniard, but also about other aspects.
Ferrero said: “After four months of fighting injuries, to start the year with a win is a joy for everyone, even a relief. Not just winning, but also seeing that the body responds well physically to competitions.
We are very happy and now we have to try to continue the good game we showed last week. In Rio the conditions are very different. It was evident in the debut that Carlos wasn’t completely relaxed: The court is a lot faster, it’s a lot wetter and all of that has been a little bit of conditioning, he wasn’t playing 100%.” On the adjustment he had to have after reaching world number one and after winning the first Slam: “It wasn’t difficult, but there is an adjustment to this new situation in his personal and professional life.
The technical staff was aware that these complicated moments and these complicated situations would arrive. He was warned, but it’s obvious he had to experience it on his own skin.
I think everything that happened to him was part of that adjustment and was positive for him: injuries, everything that comes after winning, becoming number one, having to play with that extra pressure, going into tournaments as a favorite go …
All these types of situations that he hadn’t experienced before were useful in showing him what it means. Now, if he can regain number one at some point, it is clear that he will be much better prepared than before.” On the words of Carlos, who said that he has not done everything right in the last four months: ” If he talks about it, it’s because it happened.
I think he’s influenced by coming to the top at a very young age. He has to look in the mirror of Rafa, Roger or Novak to achieve things, which no one has achieved, and continue to fight for these goals.
I think Carlos is far from comparing himself to this type of player, but he can aim for the maximum in terms of tournament goals. He got a little carried away by the novelty, everything I said before, all these influences and a bit of a muddle in his mind off the pitch, also in terms of training.
But all of this has been very positive for him, I think it will mature him a bit and see things from different angles, win everything and now recovering from an injury. All this, as I said, will make him much more mature and I’m sure it will help him to keep growing.
