ROLAND GARROS

June 8, 2025

Juan Carlos Ferrero

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/J. Sinner

4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: In your life have you ever seen such a crazy match and played at such a high level for over five hours?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Yes and no. I think we experienced the US Open match as well. It was something similar. Maybe not that long. But at the same time Jannik also has a match point and has his chances. At the end Carlos raised the level and won the match.

But today was even more difficult. Yeah, in the third also break down after losing two sets. When you sit on the chair, I think you start to think that maybe Jannik didn't lose a set, and I'm two sets down, and it's going to be very, very difficult to come back.

Yeah, I think his strength is keep believing all the time until the last ball is gone. And he try and try. It was a thing he was Love-40 in the fourth, this 5-3, and he look at me and still make me like this with the racquet, like saying, I'm still here, saying vamos.

I'm not going to say that I was believing that he was able to recover from that 5-3, Love-40. But one more time with Carlos, everything is possible, and he did it again. Amazing achieve.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. As a coach and performance manager, how do you prepare your player to be ready for battles like this? What's your part? What's your daily role?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: I think we take the experience from other matches against Jannik, of course. And we know that to beat him in five sets, it's going to be close to four to five hours. It's one of the things that I've said to him that it's going to be a battle even more on clay, because you guys have a little bit more time to play the rallies. Yeah, it was like this.

We try to prepare tactically the match, and mentally. But of course I was talking to him that after three hours and a half the match could be physical, very physical. Also mental, but very physical.

At the end I think it was like this. It was an amazing battle and very physically at the end.

Q. I'm curious, for you two things. When Carlos seemed fairly flat at the start of the match, I'm wondering what you saw from him in terms of his energy in the first set and through the second set, and what changed to get him into it and also what you were saying? I'm curious if the strategy was to get the match long because Sinner does not have a good record in matches that go over four hours?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Yeah, we had our strategy since the beginning. I think sometimes during the match it works a little bit better than others, because Jannik, you know, is close to the baseline all the time, and it's very tough to get him back.

But, yeah, Carlos tried. I think he had a lot of opportunities in the first set, and he lose it. You know, miss a little bit energy. Then, of course, second set also has some opportunity at the beginning and also lose it.

Yeah, it was very difficult to recover from that situation. But I think today he learned another experience that it will for sure help him in the future.

Q. Why do you think he becomes stronger when he gets into the most difficult parts of the match like that?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Well, it's difficult to say. But of course I think he born to play these kind of moments. Every time that we stay in these situations, even when he was younger in the challengers, in the 250, in the 500, when he had the big opportunities for him at that ages, he always went for it.

In this kind of situation of course it's so much more important than maybe other tournaments. But his style of game again I think has to be the same. It's something we try to prepare his mind for these kind of situations, like maybe the tiebreak at the fifth set. He went for it since the first point. Very brave all the time and very aggressive trying to win the point all the time.

Q. You've been coaching Carlitos for a while now, a long time. I'm curious at what point in his development did you realize that his fighting spirit was that strong and, as you said, that anything was possible for that reason?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: I mean, I know him pretty good, and I think he's able to do these kind of things. Of course, when you see something like this, it looks unreal. But I think how strong he is mentally and physically and, you know, his quality of tennis, so I know he is able to do a lot of good things in tennis.

He's right now doing it. And yeah, try to make the experience for him easier as a coach, try to keep him fresh mentally to play, you know, the tournaments in a good conditions. I think it's one of the jobs that we have as a team.

Q. Today Carlos won his fifth Grand Slam at the exact same age as Rafa Nadal.

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Amazing.

Q. Do you see other similarities between them, or maybe we should not compare them?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: No, I think it's not the day. I think it's an amazing casuality [sic]. The same Grand Slams at the same age at the same day, it's something looks unreal. It's something very curious. We don't think too much about it. We try to write his own way.

Q. You've been in tennis obviously a long time. I just wondered what you think this might do, a match like this, so epic, will do for both players and kind of the sport as a whole, having such an epic final today?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Yeah, for sport it's something amazing to have these players after maybe, you know, the Roger, Rafa, and Novak is still playing, of course, but this kind of rivalry that they have.

Having these two guys fighting for big trophies, you know, I think we have to be very happy about it in the sport of tennis.

For them, for sure it's something that they raise their level every time that they go on the court. They know they have to play unbelievable tennis to beat the other guy, and it's something that is going to help for sure each player to raise the level even more.

Q. Just raising the level, as you just said, could you possibly describe to us what exactly sets them apart from other players? Why are they so special? What do they do that other people cannot do?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: I think you saw it on the court. I think not many players are able to recover from something like this and have the strength to go for the match at the end.

I don't know. Let's say I like to think only about Carlos and the things that he can do, and not think about the other guys.