It’s very simple. Juan Carlos Ferrero, free since his surprise split with Carlos Alcaraz last December, wanted to get back on tour. Rumours went round, Jannik Sinner’s name came up, and in the end it’s Ben Shelton who has landed his services. I said it back in January. Well, I said “an American”. Or “a lefty”. The spirit was there, right.
What interests me is the Marca interview. Ferrero, a former world number one and the 2003 Roland-Garros champion, confirms he had contacts with Rafael Jodar, a fellow Spaniard and world number 11. He spoke with the father. “I spoke with his father, mostly about the boy, about the way he plays… But in the end, for now, I think they have decided to go in another direction, which doesn’t bother me at all, and I wish him good luck,” he said.
There’s a man who knows how to lose a contract. Me, in Kitzbühel, in ’92, a player’s father came up to me at the snack bar. He wanted to talk about his son. Well, he wanted directions to the locker rooms, but we got to the son afterwards. I never found out whether he took another direction. He went off to the left.
In ninety percent of cases, and I’m being kind, a coach who talks to the father has already lost the son. Careful, I’m not saying Ferrero lost. I’m clarifying: he won Shelton. It’s a fine two-handed backhand he’s getting, but it’s not the only true backhand.
Silly question, but when someone says “go in another direction”, did anyone check the map?
My mobile is on. The tour has my number. For now, they have decided to go in another direction, and that doesn’t bother me in the slightest.
It’s true, we checked: We Love Tennis.
