2000 Olympics gold medallist and former World No.1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov has said that Carlos Alcaraz’s parents should not interfere in the decision to choose the six-time Grand Slam champion’s next coach, a fortnight after he split with Juan Carlos Ferrero. The Russian felt that the Spaniard’s parents could travel with him, but should stay away from the coaching process.
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Alcaraz and Ferrero split as a player-coach partnership in December, a few weeks before the start of the new season.
“The biggest mistake is when parents interfere in the process. I don’t know what Carlos’ father is like, but I never liked it when someone did that… For example, in my family, I made all the decisions, my father never interfered in how much money I pay the coach or whether I buy this or that. From what I heard, there was a big fight between Juan Carlos and Carlos’ father. I’ve always said that things like that end up having a negative effect on the player – when parents get involved. Carlos is a grown man, he is the one who can make all the decisions now. I don’t know why he didn’t say to his father, “Look, it’s my thing, we’ve been very successful together, won so many slams, made so much money…” It’s a bit disappointing to me.”
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“If you ask me, I wouldn’t want to deal with my parents. If Carlos turns to a coach himself, that’s fine. The first thing a new coach should look for is that the parents don’t interfere. They can sit in the box, they can travel, but they cannot interfere in the coaching process. The father cannot be the agent who manages all the affairs, the tournament schedule, and the like. Honestly, I’m not sure who could take the helm now,” he told Sport Club in an interview.
Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have split each of the last eight Grand Slams between them in the last two years. Kafelnikov felt that the likes of Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev could find it tough to win slams, with both these players dominating the circuit.
“I have no idea. He (Alexander Zverev) is now 28 years old. There is still a chance; there are examples – Thomas Muster won the first Slam in those years. But the competition is extremely strong, with Alcaraz and Sinner completely dominating the Tour. It’s not easy to progress at that age because a big sacrifice is required – to change the way of training, to change many things.”
“The same goes for Medvedev. Unless he does something different, he won’t be fighting for Grand Slam titles again. There are many things they have to change, but the main question is – are they ready to be dedicated 24/7 to be better? Players are sometimes not willing to do that; they are happy with what they have,” he said.