Carlos Alcaraz reveals what his coach told him just before his French Open final against Alexander Zverev

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Carlos Alcaraz revealed the chat he had with his coach before winning the 2024 French Open.

The Spaniard entered the clay court Grand Slam amid uncertainty due to an arm injury which limited him to just one tournament on the dirt before arriving in Paris.

But the 21-year-old sensed his chance at glory and grabbed it with both hands and now has three majors on his growing résumé.

He success meant he ascended to the World number two ranking ahead of the grass court season where he will defend his Queen’s and Wimbledon titles.

What did Carlos Alcaraz’s coach say to him before the French Open final?

In order to win Roland Garros for the first time Alcaraz had to go through Alexander Zverev who was trying to win his maiden Grand Slam title.

Though Alcaraz started brightly Zverev levelled the match and later recovered from 5-3 down in set three to take the lead.

But the tournament’s third seed dug deep and raised his level to turn the match around and claim a 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 win in four hours and 19 minutes.

Before the match, Alcaraz shared that his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero reminded him of Novak Djokovic‘s major record of 24 to spur him on to beat Zverev.

“I talked to Juan Carlos before facing this final, and he told me you are going to fight for your third grand slam title with everything you have been through,” Alcaraz told reporters. “You know the difficult part of winning the grand slam and Djokovic has 24. It is unbelievable.

“Right now I can’t think about it, I just want to keep going and let’s see how many Grand Slams I am going to take at the end of my career. Hopefully raise the 24 but right now I am going to enjoy my third one and let’s see in the future.”

Carlos Alcaraz is not resting on his laurels after French Open win

After claiming the French Open crown for the first time, Alcaraz is hungry for more success.

Emerging victorious in Sunday’s final means he became the first man in the open era to win his first three Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces.

The comparisons between Rafael Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer only intensified after making another piece of history, but Alcaraz does not want to get caught up in the hype.

“In the end, as I’ve always said, it doesn’t matter what I’ve achieved at this age if I now stand still,” he said.

“I want to continue my career, I want to keep growing and get to where Djokovic, Rafa and Federer are… the greats, the geniuses, they kept improving until they were 37 or 38.”