MURCIA-BORN tennis teen Carlos Alcaraz's epic US Open win has catapulted him to world number one – the youngest in history – but his trainer has a chilling warning for his future rivals.
“He's only playing at about 60% of his capacity,” says Juan Carlos Ferrero, retired star and himself winner of four Masters 1000 titles.
Carlos Alcaraz, 19, from El Palmar in Murcia, is the youngest ATP world number one in history…but his trainer Juan Carlos Ferrero says he's still not playing at his best yet
Ferrero, 42, originally from Ontinyent (Valencia province), spent eight weeks at world number one in 2003 – the very year his brilliant pupil was born.
“He needs to improve his serve, his backhander in certain situations, his consistency – to try to not let his mind wander,” Ferrero said of Alcaraz.
“These are details that, until you retire, all tennis players need to work on improving.”
As yet, though, it's hard to tell whether Alcaraz, from El Palmar, will be 'the new Nadal' or join the ranks of history-making legends such as Rafael himself, Roger Federer or Novak Djoković.
“It would be difficult,” Ferrero admits.
“Achieving what they have in tennis would be really hard. We're talking about 22 'big ones' [Grand Slam titles], which is a long journey, but who knows. [Alcaraz] has all the potential he needs to be one of the best; what he needs to do is to try to be one of the best.”
That said, when Alcaraz first started at Ferrero's tennis academy in Villena (south-western Alicante province), the veteran player 'saw something special in him'.
Juan Carlos Ferrero - who was world number one for eight weeks in 2003 - is interviewed about his star pupil following the US Open final (photo by Spain's national television and radio broadcasting company, RTVE)
“I first saw him at about 12 or 13 years old; he came and trained for a day; he was very small, but it was clear everyone was talking about him.
“He had everything he's got now, but in miniature.”
In fact, Ferrero describes the young Alcaraz as a 'noodle'.
“When he first started training here, he was a noodle – long and thin, had the speed but no muscle on him.”
Alcaraz's 'secret to success' at just 19 years old is nothing more complicated than 'constant hard work', Ferrero reveals.
And he was very confident that the moment the world's spectators witnessed this weekend in Cincinnati – winning the US Open and reaching number one before he was even into his 20s – would come sooner or later.
“I was certain that, if this wasn't going to be his year, next year would be. Now, we just want to carry on as we have been,” the trainer assures.
“Carlos was born for these tournaments, for playing these matches. From the moment I first saw him, I saw things in him that were different to the other young pupils of his age, and I'm still seeing them now.”
Alcaraz only started on the ATP circuit one season ago.
He beat Norway's Casper Ruud in a four-set final on Sunday, ending on 6-4 2-6 7(7)-6(1) 6-3, once again leaving the Scandinavian super-player at the very gates of top title success – Ruud had also fallen to the legendary Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros, after the Manacor-born current world number three clinched the French Open trophy for the 14th time in his career.
