Before coaching Carlos Alcaraz to six Grand Slam titles, Juan Carlos Ferrero enjoyed a short, and unmemorable, stint as the coach of Alexander Zverev.
The Spanish coach worked with Zverev for seven months between July 2017 and February 2018, in a period which only brought the German one Masters title, at the Canadian Open in 2017.
The pair reportedly had a disagreement at the Australian Open in 2018, as Zverev fell to a shock defeat world No. 59 Hyeon Chung in the third round.
Following their ill-fated spell together, Ferrero subsequently criticised Zverev’s ‘lack of professionalism’, so it was a sour ending for a wholly unsuccessful spell.
Of course, shortly after Ferrero would go on to guide Alcaraz to much success, but how does he feel about watching Zverev finally become a Grand Slam champion in 2026?
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Speaking to AS, the Spanish coach said: “For me it was a great experience in view of my future coaching career. I started very young. Sometimes you make decisions and, with maturity, you realise that they could have been made differently.
“I’m not just talking about me: the problem was that we didn’t interpret the concept of professionalism in the same way. He interpreted it in one way, due to his origins, his habits and his way of being, while I interpreted it in another. So we decided not to continue, but since then I have always gotten along very well with him.
“This year, for example, when he won at Roland Garros I wrote to him. During all the tournaments and matches that Carlos played against him there were never any problems. Sascha trains a lot, he is very professional and he tried with tenacity.
“For this reason, what people say now, that he won because the others weren’t there, is just the result of a coincidence . You never know when injuries will hit: if you win a tournament while the others are injured, you never know.
“It must not diminish your merit. Then Zverev is a player who has always played against them on equal terms, he is not a player who has suffered defeats but he is always a tough one to beat”.
Ferrero oversaw six Alcaraz victories against Zverev while he was coaching the Spanish star, including two at Grand Slam level. However, Zverev also managed to beat Alcaraz six times in that period, so it was a healthy rivalry.
As for Ferrero, he continues to tease his next role in tennis, with potential coaching partnerships with the likes of Jannik Sinner and Rafael Jodar touted.
