"Let's see if that changes this year": Roger Federer's ex-coach not convinced by Carlos Alcaraz's indoor hard court performances

Ex-coach of the former world number one Roger Federer, Ivan Ljubicic, believes that Germany’s Alexander Zverev is ahead of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz when it comes to playing on the indoor hard courts. The 21-year-old is being looked at by many as the perfect heir to the ‘Big Three’ and has already won four Grand Slams in his short career.

Two of those big victories came this year. However, despite all of that, Federer’s former coach, Ljubicic, believes that Germany’s Zverev is ahead of him when it comes to playing on the indoor hard court. The 45-year-old also stated that in his opinion, Sinner will remain a player to beat in the competition.

“Yes, for me [Sinner] is the dark horse,” he said while speaking to Sky Sports as quoted by English media outlet Daily Express. “Also because Alcaraz still has to convince me on the indoor court. He has a very high level on hard, but on the indoor court even in Turin last year he suffered a lot, especially from a mental point of view. Let's see if that changes this year. If we want to find someone who is closer to Jannik I would say Zverev.”

Alcaraz’s first major title triumph this year came in Paris, where he lifted the French Open for the first time after beating Zverev in the final in a five-set thriller with a score of 6–3, 2–6, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2. He then went on to lift the Wimbledon title for the second consecutive year after beating Serbia’s legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-2, 7-6. Alcaraz’s most recent triumph came while playing in the China Open, where he defeated reigning world number one Sinner in the final with a score of 6-7, 6-4, 7-6. His most recent appearance was in the Shanghai Masters, where he was knocked out after losing in the quarterfinal to Tomas Machac in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 7-5.