Juan Carlos Ferrero has coached Carlos Alcaraz to his fifth Grand Slam title after beating Jannik Sinner in the French Open final.
Ferrero has coached Alcaraz since 2019, when the latter was just 16 years of age.
During their coaching partnership they have been able to win some of the biggest titles in tennis together, highlighted by Alcaraz’s victory over Sinner to win the French Open.
This was a far from straightforward match, with Ferrero watching Alcaraz save three championship points to beat the world number one.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesWhat Juan Carlos Ferrero warned Carlos Alcaraz about Jannik Sinner
Alcaraz beat Sinner, 4-6 6(4)-7 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(2), to defend the French Open title and win his first match from two sets to love down.
After the match, Alcaraz’s coach and 2003 French Open champion Ferrero spoke in a press conference about how he prepared his player to compete against the threat of Sinner, who had not lost a Grand Slam match since Wimbledon.
“We take the experience from other matches against Jannik,” said Ferrero. “We know that to beat him in five sets is going to be close to four or five hours.
“It is one of the things that I have said to him, that it is going to be a battle and even more on clay, because you guys have a bit more time to play the rallies.
“We tried to prepare tactically and mentally the match, but of course I was talking to him that after three hours and a half the match could be physical. Also mental but very physical and in the end I think it was like this. I think it was an amazing battle and very physical at the end.”
Carlos Alcaraz’s impressive Head-to-head record against Jannik Sinner
Although Sinner is the world number one by over 2,000 ranking points, his recent head-to-head record against Alcaraz leaves something to be desired.
Alcaraz leads their head-to-head 8-4, but there was actually a stage that Sinner had the advantage at 4-3.
All three of their most recent meetings have been in finals, with Alcaraz’s French Open victory epitomising their rivalry.
What makes this feat from Alcaraz more impressive is that Sinner has only lost 3 of his last 94 matches against everyone else on the ATP Tour.
The next time that Alcaraz and Sinner can go head-to-head is at Wimbledon, where the former is the two-time defending champion.
However, the only previous time they played at the grass court major was in 2022, when Sinner actually beat Alcaraz.