"Alcaraz Was Born To Play Matches Like These" says Juan Carlos Ferrero

Juan Carlos Ferrero was very emotional watching Carlos Alcaraz lift the US Open trophy and it was a reward for the hours he spent training him.

Ferrero is a former world number one who knows exactly how hard it is to become that in tennis. The Spaniard has worked with Alcaraz for many years and it's not by chance that the warmest embrace, Carlitos had in the stands was with him.

Speaking a few hours after the ceremony, Ferrero was still moved by the occasion:

“All the time he spent on court affected his game, but, as he said, there is no time to be tired in a final. I kept telling him to go after the match, not to have the feeling that he wasn’t playing at his level. Carlos was born to play tournaments and matches like these. From the first moment, I saw things in him that were different to those of other boys his age and I still see them now. Even if he’s in his first final, he’s a great competitor, we saw it against Cilic, Sinner and Tiafoe.”

On Alcaraz climbing to the top of tennis at age 19, Ferrero said:

“It’s happening very quickly, it’s a surprise to everyone, except to me, because I train with him every day and I know what he can do. I was sure that if it wasn’t this year, it would be the next. Now we want to keep going.”

Remembering a young Alcaraz, Ferrero said:

“I saw him at 12 or 13. He came to the academy, we trained one day, he was very small, but everyone was talking about him. He had everything he has now, but in miniature. Officially, I saw him when he got his first ATP point at 14 years of age, then you could see how he competed. When he arrived at the academy at 15, he was a stick, he was fast but didn’t have any muscles. Even so, we saw something very special.”