Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz must ‘train like animals’ to hit Novak Djokovic’s level – Juan Carlos Ferrero

Carlos Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero says he “knew Jannik Sinner’s moment would come” and believes the two youngsters will have to “train like animals” to reach Novak Djokovic’s level.

Sinner, 22, is two years Alcaraz’s senior, but the pair are fancied to dominate the sport in the years ahead and Ferrero insists the Italian’s slightly later blooming came as no surprise.

“We already saw Sinner working very well two years ago and we knew that this moment was going to come,” Ferrero told La Nacion.

“He has been knocking on the door for a long time, we saw him playing tennis to win Grand Slams.

“Physically, maybe it was a little doubt because he was a very thin player, but once he trained and matured, he achieved it. He is a player to keep in mind for all tournaments, an important candidate to win, just like Carlos.”

Despite the emergence of Alcaraz and Sinner as the flag-bearers of the new generation, record 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic continues to be the man to beat.

The Serbian won three of the four majors last year and is ranked No. 1 in the world, although his bid for Australian Open glory in January ended with defeat to Sinner in the semi-finals.

That victory, Sinner’s third in four meetings with Djokovic after wins at the ATP Finals and Davis Cup at the tail-end of last year, propelled the Italian towards his title win in Melbourne.

“I think his [Sinner’s] appearance was a bit like when Rafa [Nadal] and Roger [Federer] appeared, who between them were pushing the car, until then Novak came in, who is now a bit the one pushing Carlos and Sinner,” said Ferrero.

“I told Carlos last year, when Novak won the Masters [ATP Finals] with that level: ‘Have you seen that? Now what we have to do is train like animals to reach Novak’s level. Jannik is going to do it and we have to do it.’ And he answered me: ‘Yes, yes, yes, let’s go with everything.’

“In other words, it is a motivation. It’s contagion. Between the three of them, and they have to pass to the others, to [Alexander] Zverev, to [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, to [Holger] Rune, they have to feed each other.”

Alcaraz is in action at the Rio Open this week, where he faces Thiago Monteiro in the second round on Tuesday.