Carreño-Ferrer-Zverev: An impossible love triangle

• US Open: Carreño's long road back: injuries and losses before exploding again in New York

Alexander Zverev had to insist that David Ferrer agree to be his coach.

The first, within a few months of retiring, came too soon.

The second caught him organizing a Count of Godó that the pandemic threw to the ground.

But the third, in full confinement, was the good one.

After two weeks of testing during the month of July in Monte Carlo, where the German has his habitual residence, Ferrer promised to train him until the end of the season.

Now Zverev, number seven in the world, is measured in the semifinals of the US Open against Pablo Carreño (10.00 pm | Movistar +), a personal friend of the Valencian.

Ferrer has known the Asturian since, being a promise, he was going to train Valencia at the hand of

.

For years they have shared many hours of training and costumes together, but this time the one from Jávea will be in the opposite band.

It is not the only bond that unites the two semifinalists of the US Open because, before Ferrer, Zverev already worked until 2018 with

.

The end was not entirely good, but both speak well of that stage.

In fact, Ferrer confessed in Eurosport that Onteniente convinced him to accept.

And at this crossroads, Ferrero can be of help to Carreño: the Asturian moved to his Equelite Sport Academy in 2015 to put himself in the hands of

.

Ferrer appreciated the insistence.

Not only that he tried three times, but that it was himself who called personally.

The result is capricious: his professional career ended with a defeat in Madrid against Zverev and this new stage begins with him.

The one from Jávea has not traveled to the United States but will accompany the German on his European tour, which will initially go through Rome, Roland Garros, Paris-Bercy and, except for surprise, the ATP Finals.

Meanwhile, in the distance, follows a collaboration with which Zverev seems delighted.

"As a coach he is exactly the same as he was on the court. I could not ask for more. He was the most feisty, the most competitive ... And he is exceeding all the expectations he had as a coach. It is incredible," Zverev said in statements that picks up ATP.

The German says that David Ferrer presented himself with a notebook that he had taken while watching his matches and that, after two hours of training, he is able to sit down with him to watch videos on YouTube to study even the smallest detail.

The connection with Zverev

Alexander Zverev's game could not be more different from that of Ferrer, but it is in that capacity for work that they have connected.

And that tenacity of which he speaks is one of the things in which he could learn the most from the Valencian.

Zverev is one of the great promises of tennis but until this year he had not performed at the level expected in the big events.

Last January he managed to reach the semifinals in Australia and now he repeats at the US Open although, except against

, he has sweated more than expected.

So far, Zverev has looked somewhat uncomfortable, especially in the duel against

.

The German was already among the contenders for the losses of Federer or Nadal, and the disqualification of Djokovic has left the door open: this US Open will see the first first-time Grand Slam winner since

in 2014. The German must learn to handle the pressure to be known among the favorites, but also to polish the right and control the problem of double faults, something unusual for a tennis player with such a good serve.

For this he has turned to Ferrer, who lasted more than a decade in the Top 10 and became number three in the world in the heat of the 'Big Three'.

The Valencian has the extra value of having retired a year and a half ago, so he knows many of Zverev's rivals first-hand.

In the case of Pablo Carreño, much more than that.

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