Ferrero reveals what Carlos Alcaraz needs to improve

Carlos Alcaraz failed to win the gold medal for Spaindespite being the big favorite on the eve of the final of the Olympic Games in ParisThe Spanish champions were forced to make way for a great Novak Djokovicwho showed his best performance of the season at the decisive moment of the Olympic tournament.

Carlitos did not play a perfect match like he did at Wimbledon, but he did show some excellent tennis and had beaten almost everyone else on the tour. The former world number 1 retired in two tiebreaks without ever losing his serve, further evidence of the quality of the match played yesterday against the iconic Philippe Chatrier.

The four-time Grand Slam champion was very sad at the end of the match and burst into tears at the microphones of Alex CorretjaBut he confessed that he was proud and that in four years he will try to win the gold medal again in Los Angeles. Despite yesterday’s defeat, the level of Spanish in the last month and a half has been really impressive. The 21-year-old from Murcia has won the French Open and Wimbledon Championships and is just one step away from winning the gold medal in Paris, an incredible result for a player of his age.

Alcaraz will not be in Montreal this week, but he is expected to play the Cincinnati Masters 1000 before the US Open. The match between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic at the Paris Olympics was the best of the year. The young Spaniard had several chances in the first set, but Nole was very good at raising the level in the decisive moments and to cancel five break points in the ninth game.

Juan Carlos Ferrero on Carlitos

Speaking to ‘El Partidazo de COPE’ after the Olympic final, Juan Carlos Ferrero opened up about Carlitos’ performance: “That’s the way sport is, there are painful defeats, but those are the defeats that make players grow the most. Novak played great, made few mistakes and raised his level in important moments. I think Carlos Alcaraz was not able to control his emotions as well as in the Grand Slam finalbut everything is learned.”

🎾 Juan Carlos Ferrero and @DavidFerrer87 value, in the micro of @agarciamunizthe death of @carlosalcaraz

💪🏻 “La gesture de las derrotas has created a los jugadores”

👏🏻 “Everyone learns it”

📻 #PartidazoCOPE photo.twitter.com/Jml5eo6CiS

— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) August 4, 2024

Despite the painful defeat, Alcaraz must be proud of his ‘journey’ and how much he fought for the love of his country. “It was a different kind of pressure,” Alcaraz said during the press conference.Everyone in Spain wanted me to win goldand I also wanted to win the gold. In those difficult moments I usually raise my level, but today I couldn’t. I probably felt the pressure in those situations.

You play four Grand Slams a year, the Olympics are only once every four years. This week, this tournament was of course very special for me. I will do it for the rest of my life, the rest of my career, for sure. Playing with Rafa, winning my first Olympic medal — hopefully not the last — it was special. In the exciting moments, in the difficult situations, in the tiebreakers, he played an impressive match. He was hungry for the gold medal. He would go for it.”

Alcaraz is a true champion

The former world number 1 gave the best of himself throughout the tournament and proved once again to be a true champion. Alcaraz is the future of tennis and wants to become one of the best ever. During the press conference, the 4-time Grand Slam champion revealed what Djokovic told him at the end of the match: “He is enjoying his moment and I could not exchange many words. On the net he told me that I would win gold one day and I’ll do my best.

My moment is coming. He deserves to live this moment with his family. His tears show that he was really looking forward to it. It reminds me more of the one I lost in Cincinnati, where I had my chances and it was a great fight. All the matches against him are great fights and it is a spectacle for more people to watch tennis. These matches make you a better player and a better person. I will work with ambition to become better than Djokovic.”

The next big tournament is the US Open, which takes place in New York at the end of August. Djokovic will have to defend last year’s title, while Alcaraz was knocked out in the semi-finals by Daniil Medvedev. The two champions will also try to conquer the top spot on the ATP rankings from Jannik Sinner.