American tennis player Ben Shelton, currently the world number four, is joining forces with Juan Carlos Ferrer, a former world number one and former coach of Carlos Alcaraz. Ferrer, who is 45 years old, worked with Alcaraz from the age of 15 and transformed him into a seven-time Grand Slam champion, while Alcaraz remains regarded as the most talented player on the ATP Tour.
Shelton, the 24-year-old American and left-handed player, has spent the last four seasons in the top 20. Two months ago, he reached his first Grand Slam final in New York, where he achieved the best win of his career against Alcaraz in the US Open quarter-final in September, but was unable to defeat Alexander Zverev in the final. Zverev subsequently became the new world number one. Last week, Shelton was defeated by Jerome Kym, the Swiss world number 222, in Basel.
Ferrer will work alongside Shelton’s father Bryan, the current coach and former professional player who won two ATP titles. Ferrer won the French Open in 2003 and parted ways with Alcaraz in December last year. According to reports, he held talks with a number of top 20 stars and younger talents, but did not discuss terms with anyone other than Shelton.
The plan is for Ferrer to cover 10 to 12 tournaments next season, including the four Grand Slams. The pair will formally begin working together during an off-season training block in the United States, and Ferrer will watch Shelton at the ATP Finals in Turin next week.
Ferrer previously coached Zverev for six months but was dismissed after the third round of the 2018 Australian Open. Zverev then claimed that Ferrer had been 'disrespectful' towards his team, while Ferrer later stated that Zverev lacked professionalism.
Rick Macci, a veteran American coach who managed the Williams sisters as teenagers, believes Ferrer will find it difficult to improve Shelton’s technical shortcomings.
