“Carlos Alcaraz So Worried About Coach!” Carlos Alcaraz’s Main Coach Juan Carlos Ferrero To Miss Spaniard’s Monte-Carlo Masters Campaign, Reason For The Decision Has Been…

Carlos Alcaraz will not be joined by his head coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, at the beginning of the European claycourt swing if incoming reports from Spain are to be believed. The World No. 3’s secondary coach, Samuel Lopez, will be tasked with preparing him for the Monte-Carlo Masters, which begins on April 6.

Alcaraz has put together an uninspiring showing on the ATP Tour since winning his maiden indoor hardcourt title at the Rotterdam Open in early February. The Spaniard has lost three of his last nine matches, that includes a second-round exit at the Miami Open.

The four-time Major winner subsequently took a short break from practice, as evidenced by his trip to Mexico. He would have likely gotten well-deserved rest in the last two weeks and will now head to Monte Carlo, a venue he is yet to win a tournament in.

According to reports from the Spanish tabloid Marca, Juan Carlos Ferrero will not accompany Carlos Alcaraz for the first claycourt ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year. The former French Open champion, who has been coaching the 21-year-old since 2018, will be back in his ward’s box at the Barcelona Open later next month.

In Ferrero’s absence, Samuel Lopez will handle the main duties of coaching the World No. 3. The 54-year-old, who previously coached the former World No. 1 and Pablo Carreno Busta, joined Alcaraz’s team last December. Lopez’s coaching credentials are certainly proven, as he worked at the Equelite Academy (now called the Ferrero Tennis Academy) in Alicante, Spain in the 1990s.

Carlos Alcaraz is defending a considerable amount of points this clay season

Although Carlos Alcaraz played only two events during last year’s European clay season due to physical niggles, he still has a tall order in terms of defending his ATP ranking points. The Spaniard won the French Open and reached the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters, which means that 2,200 points in his rankings tally is at stake.

Alcaraz currently stands at 6,910 points in the ATP rankings. While a lack of deep runs at tournaments in the claycourt swing will not likely lead to him dropping below 3rd in the rankings, he is not close to regaining the World No. 1 position despite Jannik Sinner — who has accrued 11,330 points in the last 52 weeks, being out of action until May due to doping suspension.

That said, the 21-year-old is in the position to gain new points and potentially leapfrog Alexander Zverev to get to second in the men’s rankings, as he is playing in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome before his Roland Garros defense.