‘He knows he won’t be paid more’ | Relief

His figure always appears in the stands, magnetized to the figure of Juan Carlos Ferrero. Wearing a cap and a serious gesture, he was next to Carlos Alcaraz all his life. His name is Albert Molina, and he is the tennis player’s agent.. As a coach and athlete, he enjoys the glory of Paris, the prestige that surrounds a Murcian after winning Roland Garros. Prize for the challenge that he knew how to see when Carlitos I was only 13 years old. At this age, Albert Molina saw that the cast of a tennis player was a diamond. “When I first saw him play, I was 13 years old. At the age of 11, I already heard about him, saw the game, but at the age of 12 I follow him more. I traveled to different cities in Spain where tournaments were held, and it began to surprise me.R“he admitted to Cope’s big game.

Before becoming an Alcaraz agent, he faced the process of convincing a family to convince them of his project and plans: “I started talking to Carlos Sr. because Carlitos was a child. I started approaching him to tell him that his son is very talented and I would like to start working with him. At first he had doubts, he was surprised, having a representative who was 12 years old… But in the end, his father was convinced of the project.”

What tempted you? The key was long-range, looking to the future. Albert Molina explains it this way: “At 13 or 14 years old, our job is more of logistics and information support. Although Carlos Sr. is a man with a lot of experience in tennis, because he was a player and a coach. It’s always good to have someone from the outside who has a different perspective on the sporting level to coordinate and program Carlos’s sporting structure at that time. It’s easy at 13, but then I start working with Carlos. at 13 years old. At the age of 15, we decided to find a top coach like Juan Carlos Ferrero.”

And there everything changed. In Albert Molina’s decision to try to sign Huanca. The company was not easy, since the Valencian was at the time the coach of Zverev, who, oddly enough, was Carlitos’ opponent in the Roland Garros final. “I told him a long time ago that I have a 14-year-old boy who I’ve seen things about. And we talked about how to quickly bring Carlos into the academy, because he was a plus in terms of training and technique. . At that time, Ferrero was coaching Zverev and also could not give him much of a chance. Taking advantage of the fact that they eventually broke off their relationship, we sat down with Ferrero and Cascales, and the offer came. I had doubts because I came after training with Zverev, who was third in the world and had offers for top players. And I was going with a proposal from a 15-year-old player to go play in junior tournaments in South America and tournaments in Europe in a category that is not the first level that Juan Carlos Ferrero is used to. In the end, he already saw it, came to Murcia, saw his performance, was convinced of the project, liked it, and we started working.”

And how can a teenager like Alcaraz pay an elite coach like Ferrero at this point if he still doesn’t earn enough? Molina, who worked at IMG for 19 years, notes that everyone did their part: “I talk to my bosses, I tell them that in Spain there is a child with good projection, and from the USA they give me GOOD. We help with part of the money, and Ferrero with the other part. He puts in the effort and invests in the future. When he agrees and starts working with Carlos, he realizes that he is not going to join him and will not receive a salary like Ferrero as a top coach. Juan Carlos is investing in the future. And since we have a very good relationship… It’s largely based on personal relationships. Investing in the future is good in the moment, but people can let you down later. But Juan Carlos and I have a good relationship, and we knew that what we agreed on would later be carried out. And then, the family was very noble and always did what they said.”