Carlos Alcaraz's close relationship with his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, is well-known, and a former player thinks his team had a tough conversation with him after the US Open.
Many fans felt Alcaraz needed to take some time off after his loss at Flushing Meadows against Botic van de Zandschulp, coming a few weeks after his brutal defeat in the Olympic gold medal match to Novak Djokovic. Alcaraz did not want to touch a racket after his US Open loss.
However, Alcaraz overcame Jannik Sinner after a brutal battle that lasted over three hours in Beijing. The Spaniard lost the opening set after being ahead but showed his mentality to come back and win the title.
That was his third straight victory against Sinner in 2024. The Italian has only lost six matches during his excellent season. Half of those defeats have been to Alcaraz, showing how the world No. 2 consistently rises to the challenge against the best players.
Alcaraz's run to the China Open also means he is the first man in ATP history to secure ATP 500 titles on three different surfaces. That is a stunning achievement by someone who is still so young and has much time to improve.
Some fans were shocked to see Ferrero crying after his player sealed the title in Beijing. Alcaraz explained his coach's emotional reaction was caused by the challenging time he and his team went through after losing the Olympic gold medal match.
The former world No. 35 Nicole Pratt told the AO show that Ferrero will likely have confronted Alcaraz about his level at the US Open not being what fans are used to seeing from the 21-year-old.
"I feel what potentially happened … was a confronting moment that probably Ferrero delivered to Alcaraz and said: ‘You know what? That type of level [and] behaviour out on court, not showing the quality of who you are."
Pratt thinks Ferrero and the rest of Alcaraz's team had a tough conversation about whether he should take a break because his performances during the North American swing could not continue.
“I would suggest the team have had a really hard sit-down with him and said: 'OK, what do you want to do? Do you need a break, do you need a time-out, do we just call it quits this year? Because you can't continue to go out and play like that, that's for sure."
The former player also paid tribute to Ferrero, saying the beauty of the 2003 US Open champion's relationship with Alcaraz is he does not have to work with the world No. 2 but wants to help him achieve his goals.
"The beauty of this relationship … is [Ferrero] doesn't need to be out working with Alcaraz. He's out there because he loves what he does and he believes Alcaraz still has so much to learn and achieve."
The bond between Alcaraz and Ferrero was again demonstrated by the latter's emotion after the final in Beijing. Helping Alcaraz succeed and being a mentor to him obviously means a lot to Ferrero.
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