"It was a different goal that I maybe had": Juan Carlos Ferrero highlights chasing different objectives while coaching Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev

Juan Carlos Ferrero, coach of Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, has opened up about the coaching differences between the reigning world number two and Germany’s Alexander Zverev.

Alcaraz and Zverev played in the final of the French Open 2024, and the Spaniard won in five sets: 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.

Ferrero, who is also a former world number one and won the French Open in 2003 after beating the Netherlands’ Martin Verkerk, was recently quoted in a report where he highlighted the difference he felt while coaching Alcaraz and Zverev and suggested that he was following different objectives.

"Yeah, it's amazing all the journey we've been through,” he said. “It was a different goal that I maybe had with Sascha that I work a long time ago. With Carlos it was different because we started since the real beginning and I had the opportunity to create something from inside and as I told you he had the potential and he's showing it.”

Alcaraz’s triumph in Paris was special because it was his third Grand Slam title despite his age of just 21. His first major triumph came in the US Open in 2022, when he defeated Norway’s Casper Ruud in the final with a score of 6-4, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3.

Alcaraz’s second triumph came last year at Wimbledon, where he lifted the title after beating Serbia’s legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller with a score of 1–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–1, 3–6, 6–4.

On the other hand, Zverev’s defeat in Paris was his second in a final of a Grand Slam. Previously, he also lost in the final of the US Open in 2020 to Austria’s Dominic Thiem. Interestingly, that match lasted five sets where the former world number three came out on top with a score of 2–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6.