Juan Carlos Ferrero has observed Carlos Alcaraz’s journey from close quarters and has helped the Spaniard in rising through the ranks on the tour. Alcaraz has been in top form in the ongoing US Open as he hasn’t dropped a set and has made it to the semifinals.
The young Spaniard is known to give his 120% on the court and Ferrero revealed that Alcaraz has improved everything in his game. Ferrero said Alcaraz has improved mentally, which has helped him a lot on the tour.
“It’s true that we’ve always known that he was very good in terms of his tennis, but the truth is that mentally I believe he’s better than ever, in terms of concentration and solidity,” said Ferrero on Wednesday. “I’d say that at this tournament he’s starting to reach what maybe we can see as the huge potential he has. We know that technically he’s very, very, very good, and we’ve always worked on that consistency regarding the little ups and downs.
“Despite the experience he has, he’s still very young, so he’s still in the process of maturing and improving. But that’s what we ask of him and what we’re practising. Little by little he’s shown glimpses of improvement and perhaps this tournament is where it’s been the most evident. He’s making around five, six, seven unforced errors in the whole set and I think that’s the big difference compared to other tournaments.”
Ferrero said Alcaraz’s maturity and mental toughness has helped him handle the tough situations in the big matches
“I’d say that he’s improved everything,” said Ferrero. “In terms of maturity he’s improved so much and mentally he has a much better understanding that tough situations are where you have to produce your best level. The serve and forehand are also much better. If a player hasn’t improved at all in three years… the coach is very bad.
“He has incredible skills and is on an incredible trajectory. Whatever you ask him to do, he achieves it very quickly. That’s good and bad at the same time because you can get overconfident. Like any player, you really have to stay on top of that.”
Alcaraz will face Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of the New York Major on Friday.
