CarlosSantos is back on the scene. The first coach of Carlos Alcaraz, the man who trained him from the age of five to 12, has spoken to Eurosport in an interview with journalist Millan Camara after the high-profile departure of Juan Carlos Ferrero. He could not help but see himself reflected in the former world number one. “I was with Carlitos for eight years, Juan Carlos has been with him for seven,” he said.
“It happened to me too: I wanted a series of conditions, the father did not see it that way. And Juan Carlos will have asked for other conditions that the father will not have wanted either and has not given in,” he confesses with the calm of someone who has already lived that movie.
The Spanish coach said the outcome was predictable. “Once Samuel [Lopez] came in as assistant coach, it was clear that there could be a change. In the end, with Carlitos things have always been done this way, very little by little so that it is not drastic from one day to the next,” he explained.
According to Santos, the key is off the track: “In the end, the one who leads everything is Carlos’ father. Carlitos has nothing to do with it. I mean, Carlitos would have continued as long as Juan Carlos wanted.”
A complicated situation
Of the immediate future, the Spaniard has no doubt. “I think Samuel was there as second because he is well known to Juan Carlos, they have grown up in the same place, they have worked together more or less the same, and that there is going to be another coach. I wouldn’t know which one, but it has to be someone who is willing to be in Murcia, to live here in Spain.
And that ‘Carlitos’ makes everything very comfortable, very easy. Right now, the coaches who are closest are busy. Like, for example, David Ferrer, who is busy with other things and is more or less close to us. So I’m clear that Samuel is not going to be the first coach all season. Sure. There is something out there already, that we are not going to know yet, but surely before leaving Juan Carlos has already talked to someone.”
Santos rules out that the break will affect the performance of the Spaniard: “Carlitos works alone. He has no problem training with one, with another… He has a very brilliant tennis and that does not depend on anyone. He plays alone.”
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