Carlos Alcaraz having wild aspirations to reach Novak Djokovic records 'neither positive or negative' says Juan Carlos Ferrero: "He knows that it is really complicated"

Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Alcaraz's coach, shared his opinion on whether his protégé's goal of surpassing Novak Djokovic's records is a positive or negative aspiration. The former world No. 1 acknowledged that thinking about surpassing Djokovic is a "long-term" goal and will be challenging for the young Spaniard.

Days ago, during his participation in the Argentina Open, Alcaraz reiterated his ambitions to eventually surpass 'Nole': "Obviously, I keep thinking about Nole’s 24 Grand Slams, that’s clear, but right now Djokovic and [Jannik] Sinner I think are the players to beat: they are at a very high level that few people can beat them," he told Ole.

“But since I’m a very ambitious guy and I always want to think big, and I dream big, obviously Djokovic’s 24 is a goal at the end of my career. Now let’s wait to see where I get to, because maybe I get to five, maybe I stay at two.

“However, it is something that is inevitable to think about. I am very competitive and that is also what drives me to the highest level to try to be at the same level as the Big Three. The truth is that I dream big,” Alcaraz said.

Alcaraz's coach responded to an interview with Clay Tennis, in which he commented on Alcaraz's words regarding the records: "It is neither positive nor negative; they are objectives that he has in the very long term. We know the difficulty that something like that requires. It comes from the character that he has to think very big,” the Spaniard said.

“That he can get it? He knows that it is really complicated, he has to do things super, super well to achieve the objectives. It’s something that he has, what he thinks about and what makes him think that he can achieve something like that, it drives him mentally. Welcome to that.”

Additionally, they asked the former French Open champion if he believes Alcaraz could achieve his goals by 2039: “(Laughs) These are answers that I can’t give you, I live day by day, the day to day improvement. The day-to-day improvement, that I would like to? Yes, that you are going to achieve it? It’s a very complicated thing. Who can say for sure,” Ferrero continued.

“I think that with the players that there are now and will be, the competitiveness between them will be quite close. I don’t know, I really don’t know.”

The 20-year-old young star chose to play on clay in South America before the Sunshine Double for the second consecutive year. However, luck was not on Alcaraz's side this time as he fell in the semifinals of the Argentina Open against Nicolas Jarry. Later, at the Rio Open, he exited the tournament after just two games, retiring due to injury in his opening match against Thiago Monteiro.

They asked Ferrero if Alcaraz will play in South America again next year: “I can’t answer that; it’s something we’ll see later. But it’s true that at some point, I’d like him to go on the fast court tour; he can do it very well,” he said.

“And you don’t change the surface after Australia and then change again and then go back to clay. At some point we will change,” Ferrero concluded.