Carlos Alcaraz’s first coach on why leaving the Spaniard’s team was ‘the best decision’ he ever made
Carlos Santos, the first coach of Carlos Alcaraz, has revealed that he left the Spaniard’s team after a ‘small dispute’ within the camp.
Santos, who coached Alcaraz from the age of five to 12, has been promoting his book ‘Alcaraz: The Forging of the Champion’ [translated from Spanish] in which he discusses the early upbringing of the four-time Grand Slam champion.
“Especially at that stage from the age of 5 to 12, I dedicated myself, body and soul, to Carlitos,” Santos stated, in a recent interview with Punto de Break, translated from Spanish.
“Not only in terms of tennis, but also in physical preparation, nutrition, I travelled with him, I studied with him, not only the work on the court but all the management that existed around it.
“He [Alcaraz’s father] read it [the book] and congratulated me, he liked it, but he didn’t tell me to remove or add anything, he just said that.”
Former Spanish world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero has often been credited for the world No 3’s rise to the tennis elite, working with Alcaraz since he was 16-years-old.
However, it was Santos who taught the Spaniard the basics which have provided the foundation of his current game – with a ‘slight’ being observed by the childhood coach.
“No, I don’t think [I have been given enough recognition],” Santos admitted.
“I explain this issue well in the book, I tell what is the real reason why I stop training Carlitos. This did not sit very well with his father, from then on our relationship cooled down a little.
“Over the years it recovers again, but as a result of the book we distance ourselves again. I don’t know, I think I should be in another position, in the end, I have done everything I could for that child, to the point of changing my personal and professional situation.”
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Whilst he doesn’t reveal the exact details as to why he left the team, a contributing factor seems to have been the addition of a new member who carried with them the promise of an important sponsor.
“That [new] person does not join for what he or she could contribute, but for bringing a sponsor,” Santos commented.
“When he joins the team, he doesn’t take on that role for coming to help, but the father turns a little to him at first, until he realises that what he wants next to his son is a coach, but – before that – he had to control the sponsor.
“I don’t step aside just because that person comes, but it’s true that at that moment there is a small dispute to see who gets it [the job], although the father was clear about it.
“In the end, I ended up walking away from the project because I wanted something more than a handshake, something firmer.”
Alcaraz is next scheduled to appear at the Rome Masters.
