Juan Carlos Ferrero has been talking about Carlos Alcaraz, the player whom he has coached for nearly five years now.
The 44-year-old, who was once Spanish number one himself back during his playing days, has rushed to the defence of his pupil after coming under criticism from Andy Roddick.
Speaking on his podcast, the American had questioned the youngster’s serve.
Well, Ferrero has sought to detail the art of progression, whilst revealing how far the 20-year-old has come on that particular shot.
We take a closer look at his comments…
What Juan Carlos Ferrero said about Carlos Alcaraz
In an interview with Clay Tenis (via Tennis 365), the Spaniard pulled no punches in his assessment of Alcaraz.
He admitted that there was certainly truth to Roddick’s statement, but that hardly makes it a fair one.
Especially given the work being put in on the court to rectify his weaknesses, as Ferrero claimed: ‘The serve is something that Carlos is improving. When he was 15, 16 he didn’t serve well, we made a biomechanical change in his serve, it’s one of the things that is hardest to improve in a player who doesn’t serve naturally.
‘A player like Roddick, who is a natural serve player, can improve very easily because it is his best virtue. It’s like if you tell Carlos to improve his forehand. It’s simple, because it’s his most natural stroke.
‘The serve is something that has had to be polished little by little and he has been doing it. Yes, he has speed, he has direction, we are working on getting more consistency with the first serve, but you get there little by little. This does not stop, we have to keep improving.
‘Sure, it’s easy to criticise him when it’s your best virtue and you see everything so simple. The opinion is respectable, although I don’t share it completely, because Carlos has improved his serve a lot.
‘If you saw him three years ago, you would say, “f—, how [bad] he serves.” It’s something that improves little by little, it’s not so easy to have a serve with a lot of speed and a lot of direction.’
Carlos Alcaraz is still only a kid
It’s sometimes quite humorous just how harsh some people can be on Alcaraz, forgetting his youth.
He is 20 years old and already boasts 12 ATP career titles which includes two Grand Slams.
He has beaten Novak Djokovic on two occasions.
He is the youngest-ever year-end world number one.
These are not achievements to be ignored, and certainly not ones to undervalue after enduring a tougher past few months.
He will come back, likely better than ever, and there are still so many records that he could break to make every doubter look foolish.
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