Carlos Alcaraz’s former coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, outlined that the World No. 1 needs to stay “motivated” to achieve great success in his career and rise to the level where he is considered one of the greatest to play the sport.

Since turning pro in 2018, Alcaraz has seven Grand Slam titles to his trophy cabinet, comprising two US Open (2022 and 2025), Wimbledon (2023 and 2024), French Open (2024 and 2025), and a sole Australian Open title (2026).

Despite his flamboyant run, the 22-year-old Spaniard recently faced consecutive setbacks on the trot at the Sunshine Double. An ‘aggressive’ Daniil Medvedev ousted him at the Indian Wells Open semi-finals.

His woes increased at the Miami Open after Sebastian Korda left him flabbergasted in the Round of 32. He flew back home to take a couple of days off before beginning his title defence at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

After Alcaraz’s shortcomings, Ferrero feels the 22-year-old needs to ensure he stays motivated. He doesn’t expect a drop in Alcaraz’s motivation in the short term and remains hopeful that he can maintain it for a long time to amass major titles.

“Yes, of course. What he needs to do is keep his motivation intact. He needs to stay motivated when he’s achieving all the goals he’s set for himself, and then, when his motivation isn’t at 100%, professional discipline has to kick in. I think Carlos will stay motivated because he knows he has some very important players ahead of him, players who have achieved great success, and he wants to be one of them. I don’t see any reason to think his motivation will drop in the short term, and I hope he stays at this level for a long time because he’ll have opportunities to win major titles,” Ferrero said while speaking to Marca.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, a former world No. 1 and French Open champion, started coaching Carlos Alcaraz at the age of 15. Alcaraz and Ferrero forged a seven-year-long partnership that ended last December.

Under Ferrero’s tutelage, Alcaraz clinched six of his seven Grand Slam titles. He soared to the world number one ranking and lifted 24 tour-level titles, including eight Masters 1000 trophies. Before the 2026 season, Samuel Lopez was named Ferrero’s successor.

Carlos Alcaraz set to defend title and World No. 1 ranking at Monte-Carlo Masters

A lot is on the line for Carlos Alcaraz as he prepares to begin his campaign in Monaco on Tuesday. The 2025 tournament winner will defend his crown as well as his number-one ranking. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner has significantly cut down the deficit at the top after becoming the seventh men’s player to complete the Sunshine Double. As of now, he trails Carlos Alcaraz by 1,190 points.

If Sinner goes on to win his first title on the clay 2022 Croatia Open, he is destined to dethrone the young Spaniard from the top. Alcaraz, who has a win percentage of over 80% on clay, will be keen on roaring back to title-winning ways at the Monte-Carlo Masters.