It has been the news of the year in the world of tennis. After seven years of success, with 24 titles, the Alcaraz-Ferrero pairing was broken. … The two announced it on their social networks but neither gave the reason for what had happened. Now the Valencian reveals the cause of the divorce. The tennis player from El Palmar will continue his preparation with Samuel López, a Valencian from the Ferrero Tennis Academy, while the one from Ontinyent will focus precisely on that, in his tennis school.
The disagreements in Ferrero’s contract to train Alcaraz in 2026 have been the main cause of the breakup. And, above all, when these problems arose, the two main actors did not sit down to talk about it. «Everything seemed like it was going to continue well. Yes, it is true that when a year ends, certain things have to be seen at the contract level. And as in any new contract, looking ahead to next year, there were certain things on which we did not agree. As in all contracts, one draws for one place and the others for the other. From Carlos’s environment they think about what is best for him and from mine, they think about what is best for me. There have been certain issues on which both parties have not agreed. It may be that they could have been saved if we had sat down to talk, but in the end we did not sit down and we decided not to continue. This is really what has happened. There are points on which I am not going to go into details, but on which we have not agreed and in the end we have separated our paths,” reveals Juan Carlos Ferrero in Marca.
The former world number one reaffirms that he would have liked to continue as coach of Alcaraz, as he indicated in his statement on social networks when the news emerged. «I think that the year has been very good in terms of results and the relationship between the two has been spectacular throughout the year. We have not had fights at any time. Samuel’s entry has given a fresh air to the team so that the relationship could last for the future. It has been a very good year and, when we finished in Turin, it is true that we all had the idea that we were going to continue. Then what happened happened and we separated our paths, but in principle the idea was to continue and that’s why I told him in the statement,” he says.
It has all been so unexpected for Ferrero, that the Valencian had already prepared the Alcaraz preseason and even the trip to the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open: «We organized the preseason with Samuel and I have transferred it to him. Samu was aware of everything and they didn’t have to touch anything because everything was organized. It is clear that it has been a radical change for everyone. Adaptation is not easy. For me, obviously, it is not a pleasant moment by any means. In the end it is a long-standing relationship in which we have experienced a lot of situations and now there is a lot of bond. We had this relationship of feeling within training and every important situation that arose with him in the tournaments we experienced very intensely. In the end everything has been disrupted.
The first period of the relationship, when Alcaraz arrived in Villena “like a noodle”, as Ferrero recounted in his day, is the one that the current coach remembers most about his relationship with the Murcian. «One of the moments that I have the most affection for him is the stage when he was smaller. From 15 to 18 years old. It was a very nice period in which we shared many moments together in training, in tournaments, in hotels… We always went everywhere together. That growth, those experiences, those results, most of them good, although there are always some unexpected ones, because it was a very beautiful stage. I often told him that I missed that time of challengers, of small tournaments in which you really saw that enthusiasm for growing and wanting to climb a lot of positions. Then when you are at the top the objectives are different and you no longer have so many positions to climb or so many things to teach. You take it more to a path of teaching little by little. At the beginning, teaching is always faster and more generous. At the moment we were overcoming those stages, all the important tournaments that have come are unforgettable moments. Every Grand Slam we have won. Especially the last Roland Garros, which was the most complicated. “I’ll keep everything positive,” he says.
Although Ferrero assures that the relationship has always been good, he does admit some wear and tear between the two. «Wear when you spend so much time because there is always a little. I think that traveling so much, spending so much time away from home, that kind of thing, wears you out. The thing is that we supported each other a lot within the team and one of the reasons for bringing Samuel in was so that that relationship would not be eroded. All those weeks were good for us. Putting new words, ways of saying things with the same objective but in a different way. And one of the methods to avoid wear was this,” he says in Marca.
Even so, Ferrero does not close the door to a reconciliation: «Of course I do not close the door. With the relationship we have had, closing the door would definitely not be logical with him or with the team. I want to finish well with them. Not agreeing on certain points does not mean that we do not remain friends or that we do not maintain a very good relationship. I wish Carlos the best and I think he has a chance of being the best tennis player in history. It’s something I’ve said on many occasions. And, even if I’m not there, he has people around him who can prepare him very well.
