Carlos Alcaraz will not have Juan Carlos Ferrero by his side next season, and it goes without saying that this is a huge change.
The current world number 1 announced his split from his long-time coach yesterday, thanking him for the exceptional journey they have had together and wishing him all the best for the future. Juanki responded shortly after, saying that he would have liked to continue this experience.
That statement led all the top experts and insiders to wonder about the real reasons behind this shocking split. In fact, it was really hard to imagine such a thing considering that the 22-year-old Spaniard is coming off the most brilliant season of his young career (with eight titles won and the milestone of finishing the year at the top of the ATP rankings).
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Alcaraz made a risky decision
In recent hours, some analysts very close to Carlitos' team have explained that this professional partnership has ended mainly for economic and contractual reasons. Furthermore, it seems that Ferrero and Alcaraz's father had not been getting along for several months and their relationship had deteriorated further in recent days.
The six-time Grand Slam champion will be coached only by Samuel Lopez at the 2026 Australian Open, but the most likely scenario is that he will hire another coach during the next season.
During the latest episode of Andy Roddick's popular podcast, renowned journalist Jon Wertheim added further details about this split: "From what I've learned, Alcaraz and Ferrero disagreed on several issues. In addition to the financial issues that have been discussed in recent hours, it seems that Juan Carlos disagreed with certain commercial decisions (including exhibition matches). At the same time, it's not that unusual for a coach to disagree with an agent or the player's family, which is why this split is surprising."
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The Spanish star is currently training with Flavio Cobolli in Spain before spending the Christmas holidays with his family.
