Carlos Alcaraz’s first coach has revealed that he had to be taken away from the tennis court as a youngster because he would cry when he lost.
The 20-year-old has become one of the world’s best players, with two Grand Slam titles to his name already. Alcaraz is known for his positivity on court but he didn’t always enjoy himself during difficult moments.
Alcaraz is regularly seen with a smile on his face during even the most intense matches and has often made a point to emphasise how important it is to enjoy himself on the court. It’s something that his colleagues have tried to learn from him.
But the world No. 2 was once the opposite on court, as his childhood coach Kiko Navarro revealed that his dad would have to step in when he was left in tears. Speaking in the new Sky documentary Young Guns: The New Tennis Titans, Navarro said: “Carlos never liked to lose.
“He broke so many rackets. His dad had to take him away from the court because he was crying. It was something he really had to work on because he had to keep this energy without it affecting him negatively.”
While Alcaraz struggled with losses, he was still a special talent in the eyes of his first coach. “I’d never seen such technique from a child before. It was honestly incredible. For someone so young to hit the ball the way Carlos did, it wasn’t normal. From the start, it was clear that there was something different about him. He had something special,” Navarro explained.
“When we travelled around Europe he was already a star. People already knew who he was at 13, 14 years old. When we went to different clubs to train, everyone would come just to watch him play.”
Alcaraz now famously works with former world No. 1 and 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero. And Navarro said the Spaniard was forced to step in when Alcaraz outgrew the local competition.
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He added: “It got to the point where there was no one at his level here in Murcia to train with because he was already professional. And that’s when Juan Carlos Ferrero came in.” Since then, Alcaraz has gone on to become the youngest world No. 1 in ATP history, lifting 12 titles so far.
“But as I have grown up, I have matured, I have also been working on knowing how to manage my emotions and when I knew how to control and manage them in a good way, that is when I started to enjoy and smile on the court.”
