The first priority was the tournament and what was best for Ángel Ayora. The second was the news. Juan Carlos Ferrero (Onteniente, 1980) has his priorities very clear. He wants to help the young Marbella talent to unleash all the golf he has inside. Golf in abundance. Undeniable. One of the great projects in world golf. Ayora wants to be the best in the world, and it seems like a great idea to rely on someone who has been Number One in tennis and who has built, brick by brick, the career of another exceptional Number One like Carlos Alcaraz.
Ferrero kindly agrees to his first interview as Ayora’s mental and performance coach with Ten Golf. After all, we are the only Spanish media present at his debut in the Andalusian’s team in Marbella in Dubai, and we have closely followed the early developments of this promising relationship. Ferrero has been the discreet shadow of Ángel since Tuesday. He has enjoyed his shots, but his mission was not so much to see that quality, the distance, whether he is opening or closing, but the player’s reactions.
He has analysed his behaviour on the course, his expressions in response to good or bad shots, and has been taking mental notes. Ferrero doesn’t carry a notebook. A promotional water bottle from the tournament, sunglasses with yellow lenses, and a great capacity for attention. Beyond that, between hole and hole, here and there, when he deems it necessary, he talks to Ayora, conveys a message of encouragement, reinforcement, conviction. He doesn’t overwhelm. It’s more of a “we’re here with you, let’s move forward.”
The meeting is at the practice range of the Emirates Golf Club. David Puig has just made a birdie on the 9th hole and is making it difficult for Patrick Reed. Ferrero is also keeping an eye on that. After all, competition runs through his veins.
Q. Juan Carlos, you’ve just announced a change in your life, or at least a small change that is actually significant. First of all, how are you? Why this change now, and why this decision?
A. I’ve always liked golf, it’s something I’ve been practising since the year 2000. I started with Sergio, who gave me some lessons, and we are quite close friends. I’ve had the opportunity to caddie for him (in Thailand) and be at the Masters in Augusta a couple of times. So the world of golf is not foreign to me at all.
After what happened with Carlos (Alcaraz), in the end, changing the air a little is necessary, especially for a while. It’s very clear that tennis is my life and will continue to be because I keep working at my tennis academy and I’m receiving quite a few offers also at the level of the men’s and even women’s circuit.
I spoke with Juan Ochoa, the coach of Ángel Ayora, and they opened the opportunity for me to get a bit more into the world of golf and see what is needed and required to compete at the highest level. It’s a trial period, but I’m enjoying it, I’m comfortable. It’s a world I know, and above all, I think the help with Ángel is something at a mental level, emotion management, which I believe in golf the mind is very important. Players are used to hitting very good shots, and when they hit a bad one, they punish themselves a lot.
I think a lot can be worked on at a mental level. Ángel is very young, 21 years old, I think he has just arrived on the circuit; he still has many courses to experience for the first time and many things to improve. Being here with them, with the team, is about trying to improve in those two or three aspects at a mental level because I think golf is very mental.
Q. Your incorporation into the team is a matter of high competition: managing high competition and everything related to competing in golf…
A. Yes, let’s say it’s about managing how to compete at the highest level, at a mental level. Here, at a technical level, obviously, I’m not going to get involved. But the fact of facing a pre-round, managing problems during the 18 holes… I think that’s very important: how it’s managed on the course.
In the end, as we’ve said, it’s a very mental sport. If you get a little down, the energy goes down. Body language is very important, and at the level of being at 100%, I think it’s crucial that the mental aspect is top-notch.
Q. How did this opportunity come about? How did you receive the message, and what did you feel when it all happened?
A. It was all a coincidence. During the Madrid tournament (Open de España), I was watching Ángel on TV. I think we had already heard about him: that he had a great swing, that he hit very well, that he had a lot of ball quality… but I hadn’t seen him play. In Madrid, I had the opportunity to see him on TV for those four days, and two months later, Juan Ochoa contacted me to see the opportunity to meet, chat, and see how we could start a relationship to work together with them.
Q. Was this your first tournament watching him compete? It’s early, but what first impressions has Ángel made on you, and what feeling has he given you?
A. He’s an introverted guy, and one’s personality greatly influences their attitude, body language, and way of expressing themselves on the course. These are little things where I think I can help a lot. He still has a lot to improve in that aspect.
I think he manages his emotions quite well. He’s a player who doesn’t express bad shots much nor complains too much, but I’d like him to cheer up a bit more, connect a bit more with people, and that would make him be in a slightly better mood. These are things that can be improved, and as I’ve already told you, in the end, it goes with one’s character, but there are always things that can be improved.
Q. Initially, have you talked about time or a plan?
A. The collaboration will be certain this year. I’ll go to the tournaments for about eight to ten weeks to try to help, and for those I don’t attend, I’ll have direct contact from home to try to improve the mental aspect, as we’ve already said.
Q. It’s also the first time you see him in a big tournament, with a lot of public. What conclusion do you draw from this week from a performance point of view?
A. It’s still a bit premature to really say all the things that can be improved. I think I need a bit more time to have more connection with him, to really see where he “falters,” let’s say, when he’s on the course and problems arise.
I wasn’t at all displeased this week. I think he played at a good level, he had many opportunities to gain very good dynamics that, for one reason or another, didn’t quite come through. I think the final result is very good, but the expectations with him… especially he has them quite higher. He’s a player who thinks big; that’s very good, and we’re going to work from there.
Q. I’m going to ask you a question that you’ll probably tell me not to go there… but the comparison is inevitable. Have you noticed differences or similarities between Carlos Alcaraz’s personality and Ayora’s?
A. They are different. You can’t compare them right now. Ángel has just started, as they say, at the highest level; Carlos has been there for a few years. Carlos is a much more extroverted person than Ángel. Ángel is a bit more introverted, and they have different characters.
Comparisons are very difficult to make right now, but I would say that, just as Carlos has a level among the best —or the top two—, I think Ángel can go very high. He has an excellent level and touch of the ball. From there, the work he has to do is to fight every day, train well, give quality to the training, know very well the things he has to improve, the aspects he has to improve in his golf, and try to do it as best as possible.
Q. To wrap up: what has surprised you most about Ángel in this coexistence, beyond the tournament?
A. He’s a very calm guy, but what has surprised me the most is that outside of the round he wants to do everything very perfectly: rest, food, sleeping the hours he needs to sleep, the supplements he has to take… All of that, for a 21-year-old —who are usually more distracted—, you have to be very on top of them to really take everything and be in perfect condition. In that aspect, he’s a guy who is very interested in doing everything very well, and I think that’s very good for his future.
Q. Have you noticed much difference between a Masters 1000 —which could be comparable to this type of tournament in tennis— and a tournament like the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in terms of organisation, movement, and people?
A. Yes, perhaps in terms of people. Here there are slightly smaller spaces, and in a Masters 1000, it’s always full every day. Here on Thursday and Friday, there weren’t as many people, but yes, on the weekend.
In terms of organisation, I liked it: the tournament is very well organised, the food is very good, the facilities are fantastic, the course is wonderful, the city too. In that aspect, I liked it a lot.
Q. And finally, personally: Juan Carlos Ferrero, how did this challenge come to you? Do you feel like doing something different?
A. Yes. I think I needed a break. When you’ve been at the highest level for seven years, changing the air a little always does you good, but always linked to competition. I like to be within the competition, and even if it’s now in golf, I like the guy I’m with to win, learn, improve everything he has to improve.
Happy to start this new adventure, staying connected to tennis —which is what I love, my world: the academy and maybe some future player, we’ll see—, but now involved with Ángel and his entire team, and with Juan, trying to give the maximum so that Ángel rises as quickly as possible.
Q. You’re very attentive to everything happening around Alcaraz and the Australian Open. Are you following it? Are you calm with what’s happening, or do some things coming out bother you?
A. Obviously, it’s difficult. When you see him compete and see your whole team there in the chair… it’s not easy visually what you feel. But I’m very happy because he’s winning, he’s playing very well, he hasn’t lost a set in the competition yet, and I think he’s playing at a great level. Just congratulate him and keep going strong.
