London [UK]: Ahead of Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon men’s singles final against Serbian star Novak Djokovic on Sunday, Juan Carlos Ferrero, the coach of the world number one player said that he has been advising the 20-year-old to stay away from his phone and everything being said about the mega title clash.
On Sunday, Carlos will be taking on Djokovic for the Wimbledon title in the second Grand Slam final of his career. He had won the first one at the last year’s US Open by defeating Casper Ruud, the challenge of overcoming Djokovic is a tough one.
“Little more than we have been doing, there’s no need to create a new routine. Today will be a relaxed day: a little bit of gym, be fresh for tomorrow and try to keep him away from the phone, from anything from the outside,” said Ferrero as quoted by ATP.
“That is our job. I do not know if we will achieve it because it is a losing battle, but I advised him yesterday to try and stay away from anything that is said about the final. And, of course, to try and enjoy playing and to fight to the death for the match,” he added.
The coach said that when one “makes the giant even bigger”, it becomes impossible to beat him and added that the focus will not be on Djokovic’s unbelievable career stats.
Djokovic has won seven of his last eight finals in London and has a 34-match winning streak at Wimbledon. He is chasing a record-tying eighth Wimbledon and fifth successive title in the Centre Court.
“He is a player, with two arms and two legs like us. We have to be at 100 per cent to put on a good match, forgetting about the history and the numbers. If we take that baggage with us, it [will be] extremely difficult. Carlos has beaten him once and then there was Paris. He has had both experiences. We hope that the third will be better than the previous two,” he said.
At Paris during the French Open semis, Alcaraz could not play the third and fourth sets due to cramps. Ferrero emphasises that Alcaraz has to learn from that match.
“In the end, when you play more times against someone, you learn to handle the rhythm. The situation is similar. Maybe here Djokovic is the favourite and that could benefit Carlos.
What we have to do is to get him to play relaxed and fluid. Nobody goes out into a Wimbledon final feeling relaxed from the start, above all because of the difficulties the opponent will create for us,” he said.
“We have to concentrate more on Carlos, on the problems Djokovic might create for him. We know the level Nole will produce is extremely high. It will kind of depend on Alcaraz’s level,” he continued.
“The performance he (Carlos) produced against Medvedev was very interesting with a view to Sunday. The opponent is different and the situation is too. In Paris, we also had the feeling that he was playing very well and in the end, things took a turn for the worse,” the coach concluded.
Ferrero said that he talks to him about situations he could find himself in on-court, while walking out for a final in a highly pressured environment. He as a coach, prefers to live in the present when it comes to Alcaraz’s career.
“I really like to think about the present. Like when people ask me how many majors he will win, he has the opportunity to win many. But talking about how many is a mistake.
If his body is physically up to it, he has the chance to do great things at this tournament,” concluded the coach.
