Ben Shelton set to hire Carlos Alcaraz’s former mentor Juan Carlos Ferrero
posted by u/dhavalaa123 · 2026-11-01 14:55 UTC
(Link/image post, original: https://www.thetimes.com/sport/tennis/article/ben-shelton-carlos-alcaraz-mentor-juan-carlos-ferrero-7prbfvw2l）
## Top comments
1. u/Triss-Nguyen-03 · 2026-11-01 14:56 UTC
I absolutely did not expect Ben Shelton. I was sure it would be a Spanish speaking player 🤯
2. u/Dependent-Effect6077 · 2026-11-01 14:58 UTC
I definitely thought Jodar but him and JCF might not be the best personality fit lol
3. u/eliarbss · 2026-11-01 14:59 UTC
the latest rumor I’ve seen about Jodar is that David Ferrer will be his next coach (came from an Italian reporter so who knows lol)
4. u/Ms_Meercat · 2026-11-01 15:27 UTC
Since ferrer has announced this is his last Davis Cup with Spain, it would fit.
5. u/Low-Associate2521 · 2026-11-01 17:10 UTC
"italian reporter" is a now a meme at this point
6. u/mervyn_peeke · 2026-11-01 15:01 UTC
I actually think the economics/financial incentives might have been the bigger issue.
7. u/ryokevry · 2026-11-01 15:04 UTC
Well you know…. Sometimes Shelton yells VAMOS /s
8. u/atheistjs · 2026-11-01 15:06 UTC
Shelton speaks Spanish pretty well.
9. u/konradly · 2026-11-01 15:18 UTC
Alcaraz’s team didn’t like how Ferrero skipped a lot of tournaments, because he allegedly wanted to spend more time with his wife and kids in Spain, so logically one would assume it would have been another Spanish player.
It’ll be interesting to see if this works out at all…
10. u/MeatTornado25 · 2026-11-01 16:07 UTC
It makes sense if Ben's dad is staying on the team. JCF can still take time off without Ben being on his own.
11. u/Belgarath_Hope · 2026-11-01 15:42 UTC
He does always yell out VAMOS! Lol
12. u/TheFourthBronteGirl · 2026-11-01 16:31 UTC
See, next up it will be zizou bergs, and when we talk 'Spanish speaking', alex de minaur is probably on jcf's bitterness shitlist😂😂
13. u/Dependent-Effect6077 · 2026-11-01 14:56 UTC
Not what I expected but Shelton is definitely one of the more obvious players for a coaching job
He's the weirdest bad returner ever in that he doesn't actually get aced at a high rate because of his athleticism but still rarely breaks because his timing is so off that he constantly shanks returns in his swing zone maybe JCF figures that this is a fixable issue which would massively boost his results
Returning does very rarely improve but I've also never seen this level of bad return stats paired with this low a rate of getting aced so maybe there's room for at least some improvement here
14. u/renome · 2026-11-01 15:04 UTC
A Shelton who can return legitimately has slam-winning potential. But that's a huge if, you don't normally see players massively improve return and his insane athleticism (well, explosiveness, to be exact) probably isn't going to last as long as his career.
15. u/ChelseaFC · 2026-11-01 15:44 UTC
I mean he nearly won a slam with this glaring weakness, so yeah why not.
16. u/renome · 2026-11-01 15:54 UTC
So many things came together for that run though. Zverev waited 12 years for that kind of luck, there's no guarantee Shelton gets such a draw again. I meant more like from a matchup perspective, his biggest issue is return, if he could somehow fix that, he wouldn't have to depend on luck to get a legitimate chance at a slam.
17. u/Nympho_BBC_Queen · 2026-11-01 16:06 UTC
His draw wasn't even that weak. He beat Alcatraz.
18. u/renome · 2026-11-01 16:13 UTC
That match was just a few months ago, are we seriously ignoring all context already? That was Alcaraz's first match in how many months? He got a slam run with a returning-from-injury Alcaraz and no Sinner. But he also needed someone to take out Zverev who may as well be Sinner when playing against lefties.
19. u/23HomieJ · 2026-11-01 16:36 UTC
Still Alcaraz in good enough form to get to the QF and stomp Paul along the way. Alcaraz /Sinner will have slams where one of them isn’t in best health entering in.
20. u/ahyler10 · 2026-11-01 16:18 UTC
Still alcaraz