Carlos Alcaraz opens up about Juan Carlos Ferrero scene in Netflix documentary

ROME, Italy—Carlos Alcaraz: My Way dropped on Netflix as a three-part documentary earlier this month, and the former world No. 1 discussed the premiere and ensuing fan response in his first press conference at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Read more: Six things we learned from *Carlos Alcaraz: My Way*

“Honestly, I was nervous,” confessed Alcaraz, who previously appeared Break Point, another tennis docuseries. “I was nervous honestly because I didn't know how it's going to be for the people when they watch it, how is going to be they reactions.

“I mean, I liked it,” he added with a smile. “I liked it. But, yeah, just really wanted to that the people enjoy watching it, they like it, as well. So far, the reactions have been super positive, which, for me, it was great. Some players told me that they loved it. It was really honest, as well.

“I just super happy that there was a great impact for the people, for the fans. Just try to show my person, how I am, and how I was struggling, my thoughts in my head. I'm just real happy about how the people watch it.”

My Way featured interviews from Alcaraz, his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero—himself a former world No. 1 and 2003 Roland Garros champion—agent Albert Molina, along with members of his family and a slew of current and former tennis champions.

One of the most fascinating scenes from My Way ended up being a conversation with Alcaraz and Ferrero regarding the direction of his career. Throughout the series, Ferrero and Molina repeatedly express discomfort with the time Alcaraz, already a four-time Grand Slam champion, spends away from the court. Time spent partying in Ibiza, they argue, distracts from Alcaraz’s ultimate dream of surpassing Novak Djokovic’s Grand Slam total.

Reflecting on the moment before his opening round match at the Foro Italico, the third-seeded Alcaraz took the discourse in stride, quite literally going his way and opting not to participate in the more granular fan reaction to the series.

The conversation we have, coach and player, we all have it. We all have that conversations about everything: about the tournaments, the practices, the things that I want to do that I probably don't have to. Whoever says they don't have it, they lie. Carlos Alcaraz on his "My Way" scene with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero

“One thing that I learned was about not thinking about anything the people say to me, or not the real people, my close people, my team, my family, or my close friends,” said Alcaraz, who will face Dusan Lajovic. “I'm trying just to think not about that. Yeah, I hear good things, bad things about that. So, I just want to keep in my path, keep in my own way.

“I'm not going to say ‘the fight,’ but the conversation we have, coach and player, we all have it. We all have that conversations about everything: about the tournaments, the practices, the things that I want to do that I probably don't have to.

“Whoever says they don't have it, they lie. I think that's the beauty, you know, having mixed feelings, mixed point of view. At the end we go in the same path. We go all together. So, I think that's beautiful, as well. I think that's what I saw in the commentary, as well.”

Alcaraz is set to play his first match since withdrawing from the Mutua Madrid Open due to an adductor injury he picked up the week before in the finals of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.