Carlos Alcaraz's Coach Reveals He Worked On His Biggest Weakness During Off-Season
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Carlos Alcaraz worked on his weaknesses during the off-season, with his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, confirming all the details.
The 21-year-old Spaniard entered this off-season ranked lowest in the past three years. In 2022, he ended the year as the World No. 1 player on the ATP Tour. Last year, he was ranked second, and in 2024, he ended the season as the third player in the ATP Rankings.
Still, he won two Grand Slam titles and an ATP Masters 1000 title, which could be considered a great success. On the other hand, there were some glaring weaknesses in Alcaraz's game, even though he has often been called a complete player.
His coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who was joined by another coach, Samuel Lopez, spoke to Punto de Break ahead of the new season, which will begin for Alcaraz at the Australian Open.
The Spaniard won't compete in any of the warm-up tournaments. Instead, he chose to compete in exhibition matches in Melbourne before the Australian Open, which will give him some match practice before the Melbourne Slam.
Speaking about the pre-season training, Ferrero revealed that his player arrived very enthusiastic, mostly because of the two exhibition matches that he played during the off-season, which motivated him.
"Good, good. Carlos has come with a lot of enthusiasm, the break has been great for him and the two exhibitions have given him a bit of a boost to get here. In the first week we focused on physical adaptation, as well as some tests with Babolat and Nike, for the shoes."
Ferrero also revealed the exact timeline of their preparations. In the first few weeks, it was about getting slowly back into the swing of things, but now, Alcaraz is already training intensively.
"The second week has been more about volume, spending three hours on the court and doing more intense training. Next week, we will start to play points."
The 44-year-old coach also explained the difference between this off-season and the previous off-seasons. With Alcaraz now competing at the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup Finals, his season ends very late.
Because of that, he doesn't have so much time to properly prepare for the new season, but instead of complaining, Ferrero explained that they tried to adapt.
"The difference is that we have less time. Finishing so late is what it is, the schedule is very tight. We would love to have more time to better organize our breaks, to arrive more refreshed for certain appointments, but since we can't change it... we adapt."
The Spanish coach also detailed what Alcaraz worked on during the off-season. One of his biggest weaknesses in 2024 was his serve, and that's what they focused on during the off-season as well.
"We are trying to change a little thing about the serve, so that it has a little more rhythm, that it is more fluid and relaxed. Then we will smooth out small details, like the issue with the forehand, we want it to be more of a killer at certain moments. We have to enhance its DNA and work on its weaknesses."
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