Carlos Alcaraz is set to be left without his loyal coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, for his first tournament after Wimbledon. On Sunday, the reigning champion at SW19 will face Novak Djokovic in a rematch of last year’s final.
As soon as Wimbledon is over, he will turn his attention to the Olympics, where the tennis event is being held on the clay courts of the French Open.
But he will not have his coach by his side for the 2024 Games in Paris, with some other faces stepping in to support Alcaraz as soon as Wimbledon is over.
According to Marca, Ferrero will take a break during the Olympics and is only set to attend as a guest if the 21-year-old makes it to the latter stage of the tournament. Instead, Alcaraz will be assisted by his agent, Albert Molina.
The IMG superagent previously stepped in to coach Alcaraz at the ATP 250 in Umag back in 2021. The Spaniard went on to win his first career title at the tournament.
Former world No. 3 David Ferrero will also coach Spain’s Olympic men’s tennis team. And Samuel Lopez, the coach of Pablo Carreno Busta who has also acted as Alcaraz’s secondary mentor in the past, will be in the camp.
Alcaraz will compete in the singles and doubles events in his first-ever Olympics, partnering Rafael Nadal in the doubles. And the world No. 3 can go into his maiden Games full of confidence as he won the French Open title last month and will only have good memories on the courts.
For now, his attention will be firmly on the grass courts of the All England Club. Alcaraz faces seven-time champion Djokovic on Sunday in a rematch of last year’s final. 12 months ago, the Spaniard became the first player to beat Djokovic on Centre Court since Andy Murray in the 2014 final.
Alcaraz recovered from a poor first set to win 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4. It was one of the best matches of the year and lasted four hours and 42 minutes. But the reigning champion will want to get the job done a lot quicker this year as Spain face England in the Euros final at 8pm.
Speaking after he reached the final, the 21-year-old said: “On Sunday, as I said, it’s going to be a really fun day for Spanish people watching my final, watching the Euros final. I have to think in my work. Hopefully let’s see if the final going to be a good hour to watch the Euros final. I will think about the match, about my match, and let’s see everything what going to happen.”