Juan Carlos Ferrero doesn’t think he will sit in Ben Shelton’s player box at the ATP Finals later this month.

Shelton is among the eight ATP players who have qualified for the year-end tournament, which takes place in Turin from November 15-22. It will close the curtain on a sensational season for the American, during which he has claimed four titles, behind only Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

But Shelton has hired Ferrero as his new coach in a bid to improve further, with the Spaniard set to join his set-up from the 2027 season. He will work alongside Shelton’s father Bryan. Ferrero, who has previously coached Alcaraz to great success, has now confirmed whether or not they could link up before the new year at the ATP Finals.

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Juan Carlos Ferrero unlikely to sit in Ben Shelton’s box at the ATP Finals

Speaking to Marca, the coach was asked if he will be helping Shelton in Turin. He responded: “I need to talk to them about it a bit. From a communication standpoint, I think it’s necessary to go through a preseason first to get to know the player.

“I have a commitment the week of the ATP Finals and won’t be able to be there for the whole tournament. I hope to be able to see him play his first match, see him live, and take notes on a little bit of everything. We’ll see.”

And when asked if the idea is to sit in his player box if he can watch him play, Ferrero replied: “I don’t think so. It’s a bit of an unknown. Although I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go to the bench now and start telling him things.

“It’s not something you should do in the last tournament of the year without having worked with him beforehand. It’s just common sense. I can’t say for sure. We’ll see how we proceed.”

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It remains to be seen how the partnership will proceed, but it is one that Shelton is undoubtedly very excited about. And it may just prove to be the difference between the American winning a Grand Slam title or not. He did, of course, come agonisingly close on home soil at this year’s US Open, losing in the final to Alexander Zverev.

Meanwhile, Ferrero will also be delighted to return to coaching following his split with Alcaraz. Intriguingly, the pair could be reunited in Turin should Shelton be reunited with Alcaraz on the court. They only just met in the final of the Paris Masters, where Alcaraz beat Shelton 7-6(7-5), 7-5.

Their head-to-head record now stands at 4-1 in favour of the Spaniard, which is another area that Ferrero may be keen to address, for which he is arguably the perfect candidate given his history with his compatriot. He knows the player inside out, but will now focus his energy on outmanoeuvring the seven-time Grand Slam champion, who claimed all but one of those titles with Ferrero as his coach.