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Carlos Alcaraz accomplished some stellar feats as he earned a hard-fought win over Karen Khachanov to progress to the quarter-finals at the 2025 Italian Open.

The world No 3 defeated 24th-ranked Khachanov 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in the last 16 of the Masters 1000 event in Rome.

Alcaraz won five straight games after falling 1-3 down in the opening set, but he saw a 3-2, break advantage slip away in the second as Khachanov staged a turnaround of his own.

In the decider, Alcaraz’s 4-1 lead disappeared as Khachanov battled back to 4-4, but the Spanish star delivered the decisive blow when the Russian serve to stay in the match at 5-6.

By reaching the last eight at the Italian Open for the first time, Alcaraz has now made the quarter-finals at all nine Masters 1000 tournaments.

At the age of 22 years and 13 days, Alcaraz is the second youngest player to feature in the last eight of every Masters event on the ATP calendar since the category was introduced in 1990.

Rafael Nadal is the only man to achieve this at a younger age, having reached his ninth different Masters quarter-final when he was 21 years and 154 days old.

Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Marcelo Rios also progressed to the last eight at every Masters tournament before turning 23.

Youngest players to reach the quarter-finals at every Masters 100o tournament

Rafael Nadal – 21 years and 154 days
Carlos Alcaraz – 22 years and 13 days
Novak Djokovic – 22 years and 177 days
Roger Federer – 22 years and 225 days
Marcelo Rios – 22 years and 318 days

Alcaraz’s win against Khachanov was his 75th Masters 1000 victory in his 98th match at this level of event.

Only Nadal (91) and Stefan Edberg (97) have reached the 75-win milestone in fewer Masters matches.

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Alcaraz will face world No 5 Jack Draper in the quarter-finals in Rome after the 23-year-old Brit downed Corentin Moutet 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the fourth round.

The four-time major winner leads the head-to-head 3-2, with Draper having won their last encounter in the Indian Wells semi-finals in March.

“Jack is playing great,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “The way he’s playing is really high. I’ve been watching his matches. His results lately are huge. I have to be ready for that. I think it’ll be a great battle.

“My record in quarter-finals is pretty good. But every match is different. I have to show my best tennis if I want to beat him.

“Let’s see. Last time I played him, I lost. I have to take the good things about that match and the bad things and I have to learn about that. Let’s see tomorrow.”

READ NEXT: The 6 active men to reach the QFs at the four Grand Slams and nine ATP Masters events as Alcaraz secures feat

The post Carlos Alcaraz joins Rafael Nadal among youngest players to reach all nine Masters 1000 quarter-finals appeared first on Tennis365.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have ended their coaching partnership by mutual agreement ahead of the 2025 French Open.

The tennis world was left shocked in November when Djokovic announced he had hired Murray as his new coach.

The two former rivals worked together for the first time during the off-season and they joined forces at four tournaments this year, with the collaboration bringing mixed results.

In his first tournament with Murray in his box, Djokovic reached the Australian Open semi-finals having beaten Carlos Alcaraz in the last eight, before a hamstring injury forced him to retire against Alexander Zverev.

Djokovic also made a run to the final at the Miami Open with five dominant straight-set wins before he lost to Jakub Mensik.

The 37-year-old lost his opening match at the other two events: in Indian Wells and Madrid.

The Serbian pulled out of the Italian Open after his loss to Matteo Arnaldi in Madrid extended his losing streak to three matches.

It had been expected that Djokovic and Murray would continue their partnership at the French Open and Wimbledon, but they both confirmed they had parted ways on Tuesday.

In a post on social media, Djokovic said: “Thank you, coach Andy, for all the hard work, fun and support over last six months on and off the court. I really enjoyed deepening our friendship together.”

“Thanks to Novak for the unbelievable opportunity to work together and thanks to his team for all their hard work over the past six months.

“I wish Novak all the best for the rest of the season.”

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Djokovic and Murray have not revealed the reason for the end of their partnership, with the timing leaving some fans surprised.

Speaking on the Sporting Misadventures podcast in February, Murray opened up on the experience of coaching Djokovic at the Australian Open.

“It wasn’t so much ‘this is what you did wrong’, it was more like ‘this is what you do right’,” the former world No 1 explained. “(It was) ‘when I was playing against you, you were doing this, it was so hard to play against for these reasons’.

“I was more like trying to emphasise the positives of when he’s playing well, this is what it looks like and this is what it feels like for the player down the other end.

“As a player, you never know the speed of your own shot, the speed of your ball, what impact it’s having on the guy down the other end, what are they feeling.

“If I [had been] able to hear from Novak or [Roger] Federer or [Rafael] Nadal when I was playing against them, ‘oh, I hate it when you do this to me or when you hit this shot’, that would have been a huge, huge help to me to know that.”

Djokovic will compete at the Geneva Open in the week before the French Open after accepting a wildcard for the ATP 250 tournament following his Rome withdrawal.

It is unclear whether the 24-time Grand Slam champion will add a new coach to his team ahead of Roland Garros, which will begin on May 25.

READ NEXT: The 7 ATP players with the best win percentage on clay: Rafael Nadal No 1, Novak Djokovic on 80.1%

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Novak Djokovic is preparing to return to action after a disastrous start to his clay court season and the latest footage of his practice session has set a few alarm bells ringing.

Djokovic’s defeat against Alejandro Tabilo in Monte Carlo and his loss against Matteo Arnaldi in his first match at the Madrid Open suggested the 24-time Grand Slam champion was a long way from the form he needs to be in to challenge for the title at the French Open.

The Serbian legend pulled out of this week’s Italian Open as he opted to take a break from tennis, but he has entered the lower ranking ATP 250 tournament in Geneva next week as he looks to fine tune his game ahead of the second Grand Slam of the season in Paris.

Now footage has emerged of Djokovic’s practice ahead of his next tournament, as he again appeared to be struggling to find his feet on clay courts.

Djokovic has looked off-balance in his defeats against Tabilo and Arnaldi and he also looked unsteady in his latest practice session.

Today in Belgrade, Novak Djokovic practising on thin clay. (As Rome set the new standard, a HC-like clay to benefit doping prince, I bet RG will follow it).
Looks like he still hasn’t found his rhythm on movements and sometimes off balance pic.twitter.com/4cXxOM3WH6

— Novak Analysis (@NovakAnalysis) May 11, 2025

Djokovic will be hoping to get some matches under his belt ahead of the French Open, as he didn’t try to hide his disdain for his level of performance after the defeat against Arnaldi in Madrid.

“Kind of new reality for me, I have to say,” said Djokovic after the defeat against Arnaldi.

“You know, trying to win a match or two, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament. It’s a completely different feeling from what I had in 20-plus years of professional tennis, so it’s kind of a challenge for me mentally to really face this kind of sensation on the court, going out early now regularly in the tournaments.

“I guess, the circle of life and the career, eventually it was going to happen. Now I’m trying to, you know, use this as a driving force for the future. Obviously, Grand Slams, I was saying many times, are the most important tournaments for me.

“Which doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win here, of course I wanted to, but Grand Slams are where I really want to play the best tennis. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do that in Roland Garros, but I’ll do my best.”

Former world No 1 Andy Roddick suggested critics of Djokovic should be wary of writing off the player who will toast his 38th birthday later this month.

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“His year is littered with first-round losses. It’s like I can’t just show up at tournaments and be in the semis. It’s not something that is the norm for me anymore, but he doesn’t have to,” said Roddick on his Served podcast.

“For me, it’s just a matter of can he get off the mark? What is his start? If it’s a 100m dash, I don’t know if he can kick and make up ground once he’s behind now.

“But if he gets a couple of matches in, he is in the semis of Australia and might have been considered co-favourite.

“We have very short memories. All we remember right now is [Matteo] Arnaldi. But he beat [Carlos] Alcaraz, and he was playing [Alexander] Zverev, and people are saying if he’s healthy, he is the favourite.

“He can reset that expectation so quickly. If he looks great in his first two rounds at Roland Garros, we are throwing him right back up to the top of the favourites list. He can reset quicker than anyone.”

READ NEXT: Novak Djokovic’s doubters given a firm reminder by world No 1 ahead of French Open

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The scoreline in Emma Raducanu’s 6-1, 6-2 defeat against Coco Gauff at the Italian Open will do little to suggest she is ready to compete with the game’s top stars, but she should take some encouragement from the match. 

Raducanu’s latest defeat against a top ten rival brings her record against players in that elite list to one win from eight matches, but there is no doubt that she will head into the French Open at Roland Garros with renewed confidence on the surface.

This was her first appearance in the last-16 of a WTA 1000 clay court event and in passages of the match, she showed she could match Gauff.

Former British No 1 Tim Henman agreed with that sentiment, as he gave his views to Sky Sports Tennis.

“When you reflect on the score, it looks very straightforward, but I think there were a couple of really long games, but on each of those occasions it was Gauff who found a way to come through,” said Henman.

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“It wasn’t the result or performance Raducanu was looking for. She didn’t have the opportunity to dictate because Gauff was hitting so aggressively from the back of the court.

“But when you reflect on Raducanu’s clay-court season so far, it’s been very positive. The clay courts at Roland Garros are the trust, the best, they will suit Emma even more.

“Her game is moving in the right direction, she’s up to 42 in the live rankings. A number in the back of my mind is 32 – can she be seeded pre-Wimbledon and get that protection in the early rounds on grass?”

The game she played when Gauff was serving for the first set at 5-1 was bursting with power-packed winners and she also missed some presentable chances to close out games and put her American rival under pressure.

That may be down to Raducanu’s lack of belief on clay courts, with world No 3 Gauff a much more experienced performer on this surface.

The message Raducanu should take from this match should be that when she commits to her shots and attacks opponents, she is a threat to anyone on this surface.

Yet she will be concerned by the serving issues that continue to trouble her.

While the double faults that were a feature of her game prior to Mark Petchey’s arrival as her part-time coach have been erased, Raducanu is still struggling to land enough effective first serves to get through games quickly.

That is giving her opponents real encouragement and also piling the pressure on Raducanu, who often find herself serving soon after she has battled her way through a long game of her own.

It is an area that may improve when she gets on grass and hard courts, where her serve will be aided by the faster surface, yet it appears she doesn’t have the weapons she needs to challenge for big titles on clay.

Her three wins in Rome have seen her move to within a couple of places of British No 1 Katie Boulter in the WTA Rankings and a couple of wins at the French Open may be enough to see her reclaim that position.

READ NEXT: Coco Gauff consolidates key rankings breakthrough with Emma Raducanu Italian Open hammering

The post Emma Raducanu has one big concern after thumping Coco Gauff defeat in Rome appeared first on Tennis365.

Coco Gauff booked her place in the quarter-finals of the 2025 Italian Open with a dominant victory against Emma Raducanu.

The world No 3 dismantled 49th-ranked Raducanu 6-1, 6-2 on the Grand Stand Arena in the last 16 at the Foro Italico.

In a clash of two former US Open champions, it was one-way traffic from start to finish as Gauff broke twice in each set and did not drop her own serve.

Gauff saved three break points, which came in separate games: at 2-0 in the first set; at 5-1 in the first set; and at 3-2 in the second set.

The American star now holds a 2-0 record against Raducanu, having won the duo’s first encounter in straight sets at the 2023 Australian Open.

The 21-year-old was already ensured of returning to her career-high ranking of world No 2 when the WTA Rankings update after her rivals Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula both exited Rome at the third round stage.

Gauff’s latest win has strengthened her position, though, as she has extended her lead over third-placed Pegula to 175 points in the live rankings.

She is now 580 points clear of Swiatek, who has dropped to fourth in the live standings as she failed to defend the 1,000 points she earned for winning the 2024 Italian Open.

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Gauff is the first American woman to reach their third quarter-final in Rome since Venus Williams in 2006.

The 2023 US Open winner is chasing her maiden title at the Foro Italico, having reached the semi-finals in 2021 and 2024.

Raducanu, meanwhile, is up seven places in the live rankings — from 49th to 42nd — with the 120 points she gained for her three wins in Rome.

The 22-year-old Brit’s fourth round exit means, however, that she has narrowly missed the chance to claim the British No 1 spot from Katie Boulter.

Victory over Gauff would have seen Raducanu climb above Boulter, who currently sits 40th on the live list. Raducanu peaked at 10th in the world in July 2022, the year after her stunning US Open victory.

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Raducanu is set to compete at the French Open for only the second time and the first time since 2022.

READ NEXT: Emma Raducanu wins humorous WTA award – ‘Oops!… she did it again!’

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Alexander Zverev has asserted that Novak Djokovic is “still one of the most dangerous players in the world” as he weighed in on his rival’s French Open chances.

Djokovic has accepted a wildcard for the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva, which will run from May 18 to 24 in the week before Roland Garros.

The world No 6 will be seeking a fourth French Open crown and record-extending 25th Grand Slam overall at the clay-court major.

The Serbian holds a 0-2 record on clay this season having suffered straight-set losses in his opening matches in Monte Carlo and Madrid to Alejandro Tabilo and Matteo Arnaldi respectively.

Djokovic withdrew from the Italian Open, and he has not won a match since his Miami Open semi-final victory over Grigor Dimitrov in March.

Zverev, who is competing in Rome, was asked if Djokovic “still has what it takes” to win Roland Garros as a journalist claimed the Serb has been “conspicuously absent from the tour the last couple weeks.”

“Only here that he pulled out, right? He played all the other tournaments,” the German said in his press conference after beating Vilius Gaubas in the third round of Italian Open.

“Maybe he didn’t play up to his standard or his liking, but who does sometimes? If you’re not winning the tournament, if you’re a top guy and you’re not winning the tournament, you always go home a little bit p**sed and a little bit upset.

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“I still believe once he finds his game, he’s still one of the most dangerous players in the world. There’s no question about his ability at all.

“It’s more whether he still wants to. It’s more whether he still wants to put in the work. That’s a question to him. I can’t answer that. His tennis ability is above everyone else’s.”

Zverev holds a 5-8 record against Djokovic having prevailed in the pair’s most recent clash in the 2025 Australian Open semi-finals when the Serbian was forced to retire with an injury.

The world No 2 also reaffirmed the fact that winning the French Open remains his biggest ambition.

“Yeah, I mean, Roland Garros is my main goal, that’s for sure. I’ve said that last year. I think the Grand Slams are my main targets,” Zverev explained.

“In Australia, I was in the finals. Of course it was very bitter, just sad for me to lose the way I lost in Australia. But luckily we have four chances a year.

“For me, Roland Garros is always kind of the one I’m looking forward to the most. I hope I can play good tennis there, yeah, just show my strengths.”

Zverev is the defending champion in Rome, where he will face world No 14 Arthur Fils in the fourth round.

READ NEXT: Novak Djokovic’s doubters given a firm reminder by world No 1 ahead of French Open

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Tennis legend Chris Evert has voiced her concerns over Iga Swiatek’s form as she named her four favourites to win the women’s singles title at the 2025 French Open.

Swiatek has been the dominant WTA player on clay this decade, having claimed the Roland Garros crown in four of the last five years and at each of the previous three editions.

However, Swiatek has not reached a final at any tournament since her victory at the 2024 French Open.

The world No 2 was badly out of sorts in a shock 6-1, 7-5 defeat to Danielle Collins in the third round of the Italian Open — where she was the reigning champion.

Swiatek’s latest alarming defeat came after she was dismantled 6-1, 6-1 by Coco Gauff in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.

The Polish star’s clay campaign began at the WTA 500 in Stuttgart, where she was upset by Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter-finals — her sixth loss in as many meetings with the Latvian.

Evert, who won a record seven French Open women’s titles, revealed she cannot choose between the leading contenders for the Paris Grand Slam.

“I don’t know how you can pick anybody between [Aryna] Sabalenka, Iga and Coco, and with Madison Keys really to me would be my fourth pick,” the 18-time major winner told Forbes.

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“I just don’t know how Iga is going to react. That, to me, is the unknown.

“We know what she is capable of, and with her past records, she’s brilliant at the French Open, but I just don’t know if she can find her A game, because she’s going to need it. It’s kind of like we’re seeing her C game right now.”

Evert has previously revealed she expects Swiatek to break her Roland Garros title record.

“I’m worried about it every day. When I put my head under the pillow I’m worried about Iga,” the American said.

“I think Iga will end up on double digits. I don’t just think she will beat my record here. I think it’s double digits.”

The only active WTA players to win the Roland Garros title are Swiatek, Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova.

Gauff was a French Open runner-up in 2022, Aryna Sabalenka’s best result is reaching the semi-finals in 2023.

Australian Open champion Madison Keys was a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2018.

READ NEXT: Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu make feelings clear on playing each other in Rome

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Arthur Fils has shed light on the tense conversation he and Stefanos Tsitsipas engaged in following the pair’s third round encounter at the 2025 Italian Open.

Fils battled to a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Tsitsipas, the world No 19, in a pulsating contest at the Foro Italico.

The world No 14 fought back from a set and 3-4, 15-30 down to improve his record against Tsitsipas to 4-0.

With Tsitsipas serving at 3-3, 30-15 in the second set, the Greek won the point by hitting Fils on the body as he went straight down the middle of the court with a backhand.

After Fils converted match point, there was a lengthy and animated exchange between the players at the net, with chair umpire Greg Allensworth stepping in.

All sorted in the end

A little bit of tension after the match as Tsitsipas tagged Fils in the second set #IBI25 pic.twitter.com/tkL90QJ00p

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 11, 2025

Fils explained he had no issue with Tsitsipas’ body shot while also revealing he used it as motivation to fuel his comeback.

“I like him, he’s a great guy, a great champion. It was a bit tight in the middle of the second set,” the Frenchman said in his interview with Tennis TV.

“He went for my body. It’s part of the game, there’s nothing wrong with it, but I tried to find a way to fight, so I found this kind of excuse to go and to fight.

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“And okay, he told me at the end he was not going for my body and I told him, ‘I know it, I know it, it’s okay, it’s all good. I just needed to find a way to fight.’ Yeah, it worked (smiles).”

The 20-year-old added: “I told him at the net he was playing unbelievable in the first set.

“He was killing me with his forehand, his backhand, at the net. Serving very good. I could not do a lot of things but in the second set I started to find the rhythm and a way to fight and was happy to finish strong in the third.

“If you let him play, I think he is one of the best clay-court players. His forehand is a huge weapon. I tried to put him under pressure because if I am not putting him under pressure, I am dead.”

Fils will take on world No 2 Alexander Zverev in the last 16 in Rome.

READ NEXT: Everything Jannik Sinner said after making winning return to action at the Italian Open

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Emma Raducanu continued her impressive run at the 2025 Italian Open with a comeback win against Veronika Kudermetova in the third round.

The 2021 US Open champion claimed a 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 victory over 50th-ranked Kudermetova after two hours and 32 minutes on the Super Tennis Arena in Rome.

Raducanu lost a strongly contested opening set after she was unable to serve it out at 5-4.

The world No 49 responded by steamrolling her 28-year-old Russian opponent in both the second and third sets to seal a resounding win.

Former British No 1 Annabel Croft assessed that Raducanu had “psychologically dismantled” Kudermetova while commentating on Sky Sports.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Raducanu said: “The most pleasing part of today was recovering after losing the first set having served for it.

“I think I threw in a pretty poor game at 5-4 serving but I felt under pressure on Veronika’s returns – she was literally red-lining everything and it was all going in. I didn’t know where to serve and it’s not a nice feeling to have.

“I’m so happy with the way I didn’t let the rest of the match get away. With me, that’s big progress because of some of the matches I played in the past.

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“I’m happy with the variety that I have with my shots. I was able to return from two different positions up and back, which is new, and I think I adopted the back in the last two matches and it’s helped me just get into the point and put me into a better position on the fourth ball, but I still think I can be better out of the corners.”

The Brit is making just her second Italian Open appearance after losing her only previous match at the event in 2022.

Raducanu has climbed seven places to world No 42 in the Live WTA Rankings with the 120 points she has gained from her three victories in the Italian capital. She reached a career-high ranking of world No 10 in July 2022.

The 22-year-old has set up an intriguing last 16 showdown with world No 3 Coco Gauff at the WTA 1000 event.

Gauff won the pair’s only previous meeting in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open. The 21-year-old American downed 32nd seed Magda Linette 7-5, 6-3 in her third round match in Rome.

READ NEXT: Emma Raducanu wins humorous WTA award – ‘Oops!… she did it again!’

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Carlos Alcaraz’s Netflix documentary threw up some interesting talking points, with the input from his manager Albert Molina proving be especially eye-catching.

Molina was depicted as the unforgiving leader of the Alcaraz team, as he expressed his disdain for the young Spaniard’s decision to go on holiday to Ibiza after he won the French Open last June.

Alcaraz provided the perfect answer to that criticism as he won Wimbledon a few weeks later, yet Molina suggested the sacrifices that need to be made to reach the top were not being observed by his young charge.

“I tried to explain to him that it might not be the best idea to go to Ibiza for three or four days on vacation when he had Queen’s the following week and then Wimbledon,” said Molina, who was also shown admonishing Alcaraz when he was late for an engagement with a sponsor.

“That day I got very angry with him, but not because of punctuality,” said Molina. “It bothered me not because of being late. For me, it was a lack of respect towards other people and that’s what I cannot tolerate with Carlos.

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“It doesn’t matter if you’re number one in the world, nobody has to wait for you, Carlos.”

Molina also outlined the sacrifices he is making to devote his life and career to helping Alcaraz realise his potential.

“I have a wife, a 16-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter. Unfortunately, I don’t spend much time with them because I have to provide for Carlos’ career,” stated Molina.

“We live a kind of life that involves a lot of sacrifices, people think it’s all simple and fun, but it’s not exactly like that. My parents are getting older and I can’t be by their side as much as I would like. My birthday is during Wimbledon and I have always celebrated it alone in recent years.”

Many were surprised by Molina’s eagerness to speak to Alcaraz almost as if he was giving his own son a telling off, but he has a unique position in the young Spaniard’s team after being part of his world since he was a junior players.

Molina is a Murcia native and former representative of former Spanish players David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro, with is desire to get the best out of Alcaraz evident.

“I started watching Carlitos when he was 11 years old,” Molina told the ATP. “He left a very good impression on me. I remember him as a skinny kid who did a lot of things well. I was following him a lot and I tried to convince his parents to work with me. 

“I knew I could help them with everything they needed in the development and progress of their son. At 12 years of age, after eight months watching him, his father decided it was a good idea, although he still thought maybe it was premature to have an agent at such a young age.”

He was also instrumental in getting Juan Carlos Ferrero on board as Alcaraz’s coach, as he revealed details behind the addition of the former Grand Slam winner to the team.

“Carlitos was playing in a Futures tournament in Murcia and I told Ferrero to come and see him,” he said. 

“Straight away, you saw something different. There were players of his age that only did two things, but they did them very well, really making the most of them. With him, it was the opposite.

“He had such a variety that he would often get it wrong by not being organised, he would get mixed up. In one point, he would approach the net, open up angles, play a slice, a lob and you could already see his winning character, bravery and daring.”

The Netflix show highlighted the tight nature of Alcaraz’s inner circle, with Molina a key figure in his tennis and his life as he looks to continue his remarkably successful start to his career.

READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz faces a fight to avoid a rankings slide despite possible move up to No 2

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