Juan Carlos Ferrero To Coach Nicolas Almagro

Written by: Staff on 29th November 2012

Barely a month into retirement from the ATP World Tour as a contestant and former world no.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero is ready to climb back onto the global roundabout that is top-flight tennis and has agreed to coach fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro on a part-time basis

Ironically 32 year-old Ferrero’s last competitive match, in an ATP playing career that stretched back to 1999, came against Almagro in Valencia less than two months ago.

The Spaniard, who topped the rankings in early September 2003 and remained world no.1 for eight weeks until overtaken by Andy Roddick, has made it clear he does not want to travel full-time, but will join Almagro at selected tournaments.

Ferrero’s first tournament with 11th Almagro will be at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel Mexican Open that begins in Acapulco on February 25.

Almagro, who attended the recent Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London as an alternate but was not required for competitive action, has used the J.C. Ferrero Equelite Sport Academy in Alicante as his base when not on the road.

The 27 year-old from Murcia started off 2012 with Samuel Lopez as his coach but he was not content with an injury plagued year in which the highlights were title wins in Sao Paolo and Nice along with finalist’s spots in Buenos Aires and Bastad.

Despite playing in 32 consecutive Grand Slam events, Alamgro has never progressed beyond the quarter final stage, having got to the last eight of the French Open three times, and thus far has struggled to make a foothold inside the world’s top ten.

Former Roland Garros champion Ferrero believes in his fellow countryman’s abilities and desires to polish his skills to a new level. The player nicknamed the Mosquito faced Almagro six times in ATP confrontations, winning only two and has told Spanish tennis writers he believes his input will bring positive changes in the game play of his fellow Spaniard.

Ferrero has been one of the most agile players on the tour and one of Almagro’s main issues has been poor footwork.