Carlos Alcaraz has had the same coach for seven years, enjoying plenty of Grand Slam success alongside Juan Carlos Ferrero.
The Spaniards joined forces in 2018, when Alcaraz first travelled to Villena, Spain, to train at the Ferrero Tennis Academy.
2003 French Open champion Ferrero turned down advances from a number of top players to continue working with the promising youngster.
In 2024, Samuel Lopez was added to the team as a secondary coach, often taking charge when Ferrero misses tournaments.
Now a six-time major champion, there doesn’t seem to be any reason for Alcaraz to make a change to his coaching team.
Sharing his thoughts on coaching, one former major semifinalist has explained why he would reject the chance to coach Alcaraz if he ever asked.
Fernando Meligeni says he would reject the chance to coach Carlos Alcaraz
During an interview with ‘Clay Tennis‘, 1999 French Open semifinalist Fernando Meligeni has this to say about the prospect of coaching the 22-year-old Spaniard.
“Of course, people get excited and say, ‘What if this could happen?’ Everyone has their own quirks. Some people stop playing and don’t even want to watch tennis, while others stop and want to keep travelling,” he said.
“I stopped because I didn’t want to travel.
“If you put [Carlos] Alcaraz in front of me saying, ‘I love you, Fer,” I’d say, “Give me a kiss then, because I’m not going to travel with you.
“It’s not arrogance, it’s just that I don’t see myself travelling 30 weeks a year, 20 weeks a year.”
Meligeni briefly ventured into the world of coaching in 2005, becoming the captain of Brazil’s Davis Cup team.
The 54-year-old led his nation to five wins and one loss before resigning from the role due to ‘political differences’ with the Brazilian Tennis Confederation in 2007.
| Tie | Winner | Loser | Score |
| 2005 G2 – 1R | Brazil | Colombia | 5-0 |
| 2005 G2 – SF | Brazil | Netherlands | 5-0 |
| 2005 G2 – F | Brazil | Uruguay | 3-2 |
| 2006 G1 – 1R | Brazil | Peru | 3-2 |
| 2006 G2 – SF | Brazil | Ecuador | 4-0 |
| 2006 WG – PO | Sweden | Brazil | 3-1 |
Meligeni hasn’t returned to coaching since and doesn’t seem interested in taking up any jobs in the future, even if the world number one came calling.
Now a commentator and presenter, Meligeni can spend his time looking at the past, present and future of Brazilian tennis.
Joao Fonseca is better than Gustavo Kuerten was as a junior – Fernando Meligeni
Gustavo Kuerten is widely regarded as the greatest male tennis player Brazil has ever produced.
Fondly referred to as ‘Guga’, the 49-year-old won three French Open titles during his career and was ranked number one in the world.
For years, Brazil have looked for the next ‘Guga’, and many think they’ve finally found their man in Joao Fonseca.
Meligeni would be inclined to agree, as he now compares his two countrymen.
“[Joao] Fonseca is a phenomenal player; I think he’s very good. We’ve never had a player of that calibre, not even “Guga” as a junior, at 18 or 19, played the tennis that Joao plays. That’s undeniable,” he said.
“That’s incredible. Joao has a very good head on his shoulders, he can handle the pressure very well, he has a very good family, and he’s doing everything right.
“Even the pace they’re setting for him is, in my view, the right one, because physically he’s not yet at the level of Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner. Putting him out to play every week is a mistake, but there’s a lot of pressure to put him out every week.”
Meligeni then shared just how big of star Fonseca has become in Brazil after one year on the ATP Tour.
“I see it with the podcast. When Joao plays and plays well, I have 30, 40, 50,000 listeners in a week. When he doesn’t play, it’s 20, 18, 15, 17,000,” he said.
After winning the only match he played at the Laver Cup, Fonseca chose to sit out this week’s ATP 500 events in Beijing and Tokyo.
He will instead return to the court at the Shanghai Masters, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, October 1.
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