Carlos Alcaraz is exactly where he wanted to be. And, according to his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, how he wanted to be. Before the final this Sunday (15.00, Movistar+) between the Murcian and Novak Djokovic, the coach analyses and concludes: his player is in good shape, after a meritorious journey that has presented quite a few twists and turns – four sets lost, three comebacks – and with the magnificent reference of a year ago, when the tennis player (21 years old) beat the Serbian (37) in a result that changed direction as the level of difficulty increased. This time, the one who arrives with the label of favourite is his boy, so he warns: “I’ve been telling Carlos that it’s going to be five hours again… So the mental level will have to be very high.” Before they go out on the grass for a final session, Ferrero answers.
Normalizing the extraordinary. “Carlos’ performance has gone from bad to worse. What he’s doing after winning the Roland Garros title, changing his mindset and preparing in this way and reaching the final, is outrageous. I think the level he’s showing is top ten, especially in mental terms, because of how he’s withstanding all the pressure that, unintentionally, everyone puts on him; it’s already taken for granted that he has to reach this final round and managing that is complicated. We are very clear about the level he has and that he can reach, obviously, but people should know that generating it every week is tremendously difficult. That’s why there’s so much admiration for Rafa, Novak and Roger, because they’ve done it for so many years. We’re now experiencing it first-hand and we know better than anyone how difficult it is.”
Emotional control, key. “Obviously, precedents are useful, but in the end it’s a new year in which there are new sensations. Novak has a lot more experience and thanks to the experience that Carlos has acquired throughout this year he will be able to approach the match with more calm. In that sense he is growing, but he still lacks that consistency that we want to have in order to have the optimal level during all the matches. Against Medvedev it was one of the things that cost us the most again, so we are going to try to get a little bit of his edge so that tomorrow he can get us out of some trouble. He is realizing more and more that mental strength is something that is often getting him out of those problems that he has; he is quite an emotional player on the court, who tends to show a lot of his emotions during the match, but he is handling it better and better.”
From you to you from the beginning. “It is said because of the operation, but if we are realistic, I think that the favourite here is Djokovic because of the experience he has in these types of finals and because of the titles (seven, just one less than Federer) that he has won on this court. We know Carlos’ potential, so we like to think that if he is well he will put up a really difficult match, but at the same time, we know Novak’s level and it is always very high, even on bad days; he knows how to handle them very well and solve those problems, so we expect a very high level match from Novak. We are going to try to start better than last year, playing him as equals, accepting the battle that he is going to propose all the time. The sooner we adapt to that, the better.”
The Serbian’s physical response. “As usual, we don’t know exactly how far he can go, so we have to face reality, and it tells us that he has come out of the operation very well and very quickly. I think he has managed to play at a good level again and, above all, the most important thing for him is to be at a fairly optimal physical level. I think he is moving and sliding well, so, let’s say that I am not seeing any problems or gestures in that sense that would indicate that he is not 100%; so, we have to approach the match based on a battle that, at the very least, will be like last year’s. I have been telling Carlos that it will be five hours again, so the mental level will have to be very high. We will try to make him run as much as possible and we trust that his youth will make his legs fresher at the end of the match than Novak’s.”
Nole and the environmental factor. “Carlos has a lot of experience dealing with these types of situations that arise from Novak’s stress (when he faced the crowd during the quarterfinal match). He has to really concentrate on his game and keep moving forward. That aspect doesn’t worry us at all. We can talk before the match, say, ‘hey, if this happens, you can relax,’ but it’s not something that worries us too much.”
The weather condition. “Last year (when it was played outdoors) Djokovic looked a bit uncomfortable with the wind. It doesn’t suit him in terms of hitting the ball so cleanly, because he does it better in the open air format. indoor (with roof closed). For us it would be better to play outdoors, but we have been playing indoors for the entire tournament (four of the six matches that the Murcian has played so far), so if this is the case (the forecast predicts clouds and a 10% chance of showers), we will try to adapt as quickly as possible.”
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