NEW YORK — Carlos Alcaraz will have an additional coach when the 2025 season begins.
The four-time Grand Slam champion hired Samuel Lopez to work with Juan Carlos Ferrero. He has been coaching the Spaniard since he was 15 years old.
Lopez coached Ferrero, among other players. Alcaraz, 21, believes this combination will help propel him back to the top of the rankings.
“I think Samuel is one of the best coaches on our tour,” Alcaraz said Tuesday, a day before his exhibition match against Ben Shelton at Madison Square Garden.
“I think it would be great to trust each other 100% and be able to travel together. Thanks to this, I think I will be able to grow as a player. I think I will be able to work pretty hard and do well.” “It’s good for next season and I hope we can achieve good results together next year as well.”
Lopez was a member of the Spanish Olympic team in 2000 and 2012. He has been working with Pablo Carreño Busta, who thanked his coach for nine seasons in an Instagram post this weekend.
Alcaraz became the youngest player to top the ATP rankings after winning the US Open in 2022 at the age of 19. He went on to win two Wimbledon titles and one French Open, which Ferrero won.
Alcaraz finished the year in third place. He said his relationship with Ferrero remains strong. He credits his coaches with shaping him into the player and person he is and giving him a greater voice at the academy.
“They are listening to me a lot more than before,” Alcaraz said. “Obviously when I was 16 I had nothing to say. I just kept my mouth shut and my ears open and did whatever he told me to do. Now I’m doing more for myself. For example, I make more decisions, serious decisions. Let’s say you’re lowering .
“So I think we’re both doing a great job together as human beings as well. Just making sure that this relationship is still pretty good and the love for each other is tremendous. So I respect him as a professional, but I respect him as a human being.” “Likewise.”
U.S. Open women’s runner-up Jessica Pegula and semifinalist Emma Navarro are also scheduled to compete in the Garden Cup.
