Juan Carlos Ferrero has been voted Coach of the Year in the 2022 ATP Awards for his efforts in helping Carlos Alcaraz achieve a record-breaking season on Tour.
The 19-year-old Alcaraz became the first teenager and youngest player to finish No. 1 in the 50 editions of the year-end Pepperstone ATP Rankings following a standout season that saw him capture two ATP Masters 1000 titles and his maiden Grand Slam crown at the US Open.
What an amazing year it was for @juankiferri 👏 Excited to see what 2023 brings!#ATPAwards pic.twitter.com/gwP5u5Pbig
— ATP Tour (@atptour) December 14, 2022
The Spaniard, who also won titles in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona, finished the year holding a 57-13 record. Under the guidance of Ferrero, Alcaraz also made the biggest jump to year-end No. 1 in history, rising from No. 32 at the end of 2021.
"This year has been an amazing year," said Ferrero, upon his selection by fellow coaches as the ATP Award winner. "Gladly, all the hard work has been rewarded with results and now with this amazing prize. I’m extremely happy to win the ATP Coach of the Year award. Thank you all of you for the support."
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Ferrero first set eyes on Alcaraz at the Equelite Sport Academy when the 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion was just 13 years old. He witnessed the Spaniard earn his first ATP Tour point aged 14, before the pair started officially working together in 2018.
“I saw him at 13,” said Ferrero. “He came to the academy, we trained one day, he was very small, but everyone was talking about him. He had everything he has now, but in miniature. Officially, I saw him when he got his first ATP point at 14 years of age, then you could see how he competed.
“When he arrived at the academy at 15, he was a stick, he was fast but didn’t have any muscles. Even so, we saw something very special.”
Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Alcaraz’s rise to the top of men’s tennis has caught the world’s attention. However, it has not come as a surprise to Ferrero, a former World No. 1.
“It’s happening very quickly, it’s a surprise to everyone, except to me, because I train with him every day and I know what he can do,” Ferrero said following Alcaraz’s US Open triumph. “I was sure that if it wasn’t this year, it would be the next. Now we want to keep going.”
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