Carlos Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero has expressed his “admiration and respect” for Novak Djokovic and hailed the great Serbian for his ability to adapt like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

The former world No 1 and French Open champion also explained that he tries to instil qualities from certain players, including Djokovic and Nadal, into Alcaraz.

Djokovic, who turned professional in 2003, has competed against players from various generations during his career and has faced a range of rivals, having won his maiden major in 2008 and his most recent last year.

This was also true for Federer and Nadal, with the Swiss winning his first Grand Slam title in 2003 and his last in 2018. Nadal, meanwhile, claimed his maiden major in 2005 and his most recent in 2022.

Ferrero, who competed from 1998 to 2012, earned victories against each of the legendary trio and holds the following records: 1-2 against Djokovic; 2-7 against Nadal, 3-10 against Federer.

In an interview with La Nacion, Ferrero was asked whether he places Djokovic closer to his own generation or the current group of players.

“[He is] in both. He has been adapting just like Rafa or Roger did, who started in our time and the years have passed and in the end they end up here today. The world continues to move non-stop and people have to adapt,” the Spaniard said.

Ferrero, a winner of 16 ATP titles, then addressed why he feels Djokovic continues competing at the age of 36.

“Admiration and respect. When you spend time with him in tournaments, you see his desire, the reason why he is in perfect condition to continue competing, how he takes care of himself, how he trains, that motivation that he still shows. For me, it is of utmost admiration,” he continued.

“I like to take things from the players and then give examples to Carlos; Novak, obviously, is always one of them. I didn’t have to show Carlos too much about Rafa, because he has always paid a lot of attention to him. From there, he looks for the mental level and intensity for the training.

“I think that the next generation is very good, in which perhaps there will be a little more fight to win the Grand Slams. With the Big 3, the circle was very closed in the last twenty years.

“Now it’s nice that there are four, five or six contenders for the Grand Slams. For me, it’s worse, because I want Carlos to win and I wish there weren’t so many, but for the people, it’s spectacular.”