Juan Carlos Ferrero backtracked after giving his partnership with Carlos Alcaraz an expiry date (Image: Getty)
’s long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero has addressed an “expiry date” he previously put on their partnership.
Ferrero, himself a former No. 1, has been working with Alcaraz since his junior days, and the pair are about to begin their seventh season together.
Ahead of the new year, Alcaraz’s coach reflected on his 2024 season and shut down suggestions that it was a disappointing run, citing the Spaniard’s title wins.
Alcaraz’s pre-season preparations are well underway. The world No. 3 has been training at Ferrero’s academy in Alicante with Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Berrettini dropping in for practice sessions.
The 21-year-old has a close relationship with Ferrero, who reached the top of the rankings and won the French Open in 2003. The retired star took a teenage Alcaraz under his wing in 2019, and the pair have been together ever since.
When he first took up the coaching role, Ferrero gave their partnership 10 years. But he has now backtracked, explaining why he would’ve given such a time frame.
“You have a family and a commitment to spend time with them, adding someone to the team is also a way of extending a coach’s career,” Ferrero told after Samuel Lopez joined Alcaraz’s camp.
Carlos Alcaraz defended his Wimbledon crown this year (Image: Getty)
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“I don’t set a date for myself right now… I mean, I don’t start thinking that it’s my seventh year and I only have three left.
“When I said that it was just a symbolic number, 10 years is a long time, but right now I don’t have an expiration date. We are calm, working every day as best as possible.”
As Alcaraz and Ferrero look ahead to the new year, the 21-year-old has already laid out his biggest goal for 2025 – winning the Australian Open to complete the career Grand Slam. He already has four Majors to his name, winning two in 2024.
However, some have seen Alcaraz’s 2024 season as disappointing. He ended the year outside the top two, suffered an uncharacteristic early exit at the US Open, and failed to get out of the group stage at the ATP Finals.
But Ferrero and the rest of the team disagreed. He replied: “We think the opposite; it has been a spectacular year.
“Winning a Grand Slam is very, very difficult, so winning two means a magnificent season, although there are always things that can be improved, such as off-court or training certain aspects.”
And the 44-year-old believes Alcaraz will only get better. “Carlos is very aware of the things that he has to improve every year, I see him becoming more mature every day when it comes to being a professional and doing things more thoughtfully,” he added.
“I like how he is facing the pre-season, I see him very focused on the things that he wants to improve or the things that did not go so well this year.”
Alcaraz will start his season at the Australian Open. He has not entered a warm-up tournament but will play some exhibition matches.