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Carlos Alcaraz He insists he has full confidence in his team after a shocking breakup with his long-term coach in the offseason Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Former world no.1 Ferrero Alcaraz has coached him since he was 15, but the pair announced they were parting ways last month.
Ferrero blamed it on a contract dispute, with Alcaraz now being coached only by Samuel Lopez, who had been No. 2.
Alcaraz declined to give details at his first press conference of the new season ahead of the Australian Open, saying: “We decided to do it with Juan Carlos.
“I’m confident in the team I have now. Practice is going really well. I feel good. So I’m excited to get started with the team I have now.
“I must say that I’m really grateful for the seven years I spent with Juan Carlos. I learned a lot. It’s probably thanks to him that I became who I am today.”
“But that’s what we decided internally. We ended this chapter in a mutual way. We are still friends and have a good relationship.
“My team is the same as last year. It’s just missing one member. So we’re not changing the routine at all. We’re just going through preseason and the season the same way, with probably improvements that I really want to make.”
The split means extra attention will be paid to Alcaraz’s performance at Melbourne Park, having yet to reach the quarter-finals.
If the 22-year-old wins the title, he will become the youngest person to complete his career grand slam One of the Four Crowns.
“I think that’s my main goal this year,” Alcaraz said. “I’m just hungry for championships and hungry to do really well here.”
Alcaraz will have to break his archrival’s winning streak if he wants to win his first Australian Open title Jannik Sinnertwo-time defending champion.
The pair have shared the past eight Grand Slam titles and have competed in the past three finals, with Alcaraz’s victory at the U.S. Open sending Sinner back to the drawing board.
The Italian said after the four-set loss that he needed to add variety to his game, which has been a focus during the offseason.
“We’ve done a lot of hard work trying to transition to the web,” he said. “Serve-wise, we changed a few things. But it’s little details. When you’re at the top level, there are little things that make a difference.
“But I would say the first game you try to get used to the feeling of the game again and then after that you try to add some things. We’ll see how things go.”