Former World No. 1 Defends Alcaraz's Team Amid Calls For Coaching Change
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Andy Roddick has dismissed those calling for Juan Carlos Ferrero to be replaced as Carlos Alcaraz's coach and believes some have unrealistic expectations.
Ferrero did not travel with Alcaraz to the 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters. The Spaniard has been supported by Samuel Lopez, Pablo Carreno Busta's former coach, who was added to his team during the off-season.
Although Ferrero remains a pivotal part of Alcaraz's team and deserves much of the credit for his rapid development from a young age, some wonder whether it might be time for the 21-year-old to hire someone else.
Ferrero himself has spoken about not coaching Alcaraz for his entire career. It is unclear when that could happen, but the former French Open champion is open about moving on at some point.
However, Roddick does not think now is the time for Ferrero to leave Alcaraz and believes fans have taken everything the four-time Grand Slam champion has achieved for granted and should manage their expectations.
"Do you guys remember the crazy times before the Big Three when players didn’t make the finals every week. Yeah, we kind of have to reset expectations, and one of [Paul] Annacone’s former charges, Pete Sampras, as great as he was, winner of 14 majors, six year-end No 1’s — he would lose third round sometimes. He just would. He would win one or two majors a year instead of three."
"We have to reset expectations, right? Carlos Alcaraz already has more majors than Andy Murray, he’s halfway towards icons like [Jimmy] Connors, [Andre] Agassi. It’s just absurd what he’s done. We need to reset a little bit, and anyone calling for a coaching change doesn’t know anything about coaching."
Alcaraz is unquestionably one of the best young players in ATP history. Some, including John McEnroe, consider his game to be the most complete ever seen at this stage of his career.
It is somewhat frightening to think about how much Alcaraz could earn. Players in the modern game usually peak later in their twenties, and the two-time Wimbledon winner will hope to do the same.
But even someone as good as Alcaraz will likely face some turbulence and setbacks along the way. Sometimes, he does not choose the right shot or tries to hit himself out of trouble when struggling, which does not always work.
With time, Alcaraz can learn how best to manage his struggles to achieve more consistent results and find the balance between being a natural entertainer who loves to wow fans and realizing when he needs to grind out results.
Alcaraz's rivalry with Jannik Sinner might help those skills. Sinner's ban from February 9th until May 4th for testing positive for clostebol after being accidentally contaminated has prevented any possibility of that matchup for a while.
The pair usually has epic matches. Many expect their rivalry to be the next great one in tennis. After Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's retirements, men's tennis could use another memorable and long-term rivalry.
