Samuel Lopez Trusts Alvaro Alcaraz’s Abilities to Support Brother Carlos Alcaraz as Second Coach

Carlos Alcaraz ended his seven-year partnership with Juan Carlos Ferrero in December last year. His current coach is Samuel Lopez, under whom the Spanish ace became the youngest man in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam after his four-set win over the legendary Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final.

Alcaraz’s brother, Alvaro Alcaraz, will also be playing an important role in his team. Lopez will be traveling with the seven-time Grand Slam champion for 80 percent or more of the tournaments. And when he is unavailable, Alvaro will act as the second coach. Reacting to the current setup, Lopez told Eurosport Spain that he has full belief in Alvaro’s abilities to support his brother in his absence.

He respects him and will travel alone (without another coach). He’s acting as second coach.

Lopez also guided Alcaraz to the Qatar Open title. Alcaraz has so far won 26 titles, and except for the Australian Open and the Qatar Open, all other titles he clinched under the tutelage of Ferrero, including his first six Grand Slam trophies.

Lopez, in that interview, also said that Alcaraz will be playing five tournaments on the clay swing. The 22-year-old will be battling with arch-rival Jannik Sinner to maintain his position at the top of the rankings table.

Alcaraz, the winner of 11 clay-court titles, has 4,300 points to defend on clay this season, given that he won the Monte Carlo Masters, Italian Open, and French Open and reached the final of the Barcelona Open last year. Sinner doesn’t have any point to defend in The Principality because he was forced to skip the tournament last year due to his doping ban.

The World No.1 and the World No.2 have 13,590 and 12,400 points, respectively. Sinner won 2,000 points last month and reduced the rankings gap after becoming the eighth man to complete the Sunshine Double by defeating Daniil Medvedev and Arthur Fils in the finals of the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Open, respectively.

Alexander Zverev on what makes Carlos Alcaraz different from the rest

Alexander Zverev recently sat for an interview on the Nothing Major Show during which he lauded Carlos Alcaraz’s playing style. Sascha said Alcaraz’s game is a mixture of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, which makes him a different player than the rest.

What has changed in tennis? The biggest difference is that tennis has changed. Everyone hits the ball really hard. Nowadays, everyone has more or less the same playing style… The finesse of Roger Federer and the topspin of Rafael Nadal are gone. Carlos Alcaraz retains some of that quality, but the rest play practically the same.

Nothing Major Show

Alcaraz holds a 7-6 head-to-head edge over the three-time Grand Slam finalist, but won their last two meetings, including in the semifinals of this year’s Australian Open. The match, which ended after five hours and 27 minutes, has become the longest semifinal in the history of the Melbourne Slam.

Sinner plays very fast, hits hard. Fritz hits hard. When I play well, I hit hard. Draper hits hard, Rublev hits hard. Everyone hits the ball as hard as they can.

Alexander Zverev added

Zverev was last seen in action at the Miami Open, where Sinner ended his run in the semifinals. He has yet to win a title since the 2025 Munich Open. Zverev will next be competing at the Monte Carlo Masters, where he is a two-time semifinalist and suffered an opening-round exit last year.

The winner of 24 tour-level singles titles has so far won nine titles on clay. Last year, he played four finals, winning just the Munich Open.

Also read: Paula Badosa Inspired by Rafael Nadal as She Kicks Off her Clay Season Campaign

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