The tennis world is amazed: world number 1 Carlos Alcaraz and his long-time successful coach Juan Carlos Ferrero are going their separate ways. What are the consequences?
The most important thing in brief
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On Wednesday, Carlos Alcaraz surprisingly announced that he was separating from his coach.
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Is this more of an opportunity or a risk?
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The Nau.ch sports editorial team believes both scenarios are possible.
Carlos Alcaraz surprised us with emotional news on Wednesday: The 22-year-old world number 1 is separating from successful coach Juan Carlos Ferrero after seven years!
Under Ferrero’s leadership, the Andalusian became the youngest number 1 in history in 2022. The US Open triumph has since been followed by five more Grand Slam titles.
In the last two years, Carlos Alcaraz celebrated two major victories, and this year he became world number 1 again with a dream season.
Now the surprising separation from the coach, who was once number 1 in the world himself. The question arises as to what the Ferrero exit will trigger at Alcaraz. Will the Spaniard remain at his high level – or will things go backwards without Ferrero?
There is no agreement on this in the sports editorial team at Nau.ch.
Nicola Wittwer, sports editor
«In the Netflix documentary about Carlos Alcaraz, which was released in the spring of this year, it was already clear that the collaboration with Ferrero would probably not last forever.
The fact that it is ending now is a surprise. For Alcaraz too?
The Spanish world number 1 has been stable for years and showed enormous consistency this year. When Alcaraz competed in a tournament, he rarely didn’t make it to the final. Most of the time there was even the title.
Achieving such an achievement shows great maturity. The youngest number 1 in history is only 22 years old.
Because of this stability and consistency, I don’t assume that things will go downhill after separating from the successful coach. The greatest players, including Alcaraz, are too good to fall into a performance hole without a long-standing coach.
I see a good opportunity for the six-time Grand Slam champion to break new ground – to become even better!
Ultimately, the examples of Federer, Djokovic and Nadal show: In tennis, the player always has to develop further, otherwise the train will leave. If anyone can do that, it’s the highly talented Carlos Alcaraz. Even without Ferrero.”
Ronny Reisch, sports editor
“It is difficult to judge from the outside why the separation between Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero occurred. No matter what the reason was: from a purely sporting point of view, the coach crash is a big risk.
Under Ferrero’s wing, Alcaraz quickly matured into a top player. In just his second year as a professional, he won his first Grand Slam title and became number 1. In the US Open final against Casper Ruud, he lost the second set 2:6 and began to struggle.
One of many games in which Ferrero constantly talked to him from outside and Alcaraz subsequently found the right path again. No other player benefited as much from the rule change that allowed in-game coaching as he did.
As a young player, Alcaraz blindly trusted his shrewd coach and enjoyed a steep rise. At the age of 22, he is now breaking away from his tennis father.
Alcaraz has all the attributes a top player needs. It is the Swiss army knife – with tools for every task. But Ferrero managed this and always gave Alcaraz the right tools.
Now the next development step is needed. The emotional Spaniard is unlikely to become a cool machine like Jannik Sinner. I say: “Carlitos” will miss its mentor more than once and initially fail more often than in 2025.
The Spaniard remains an exceptional player and will win further Grand Slam titles. This year the way is clear for Sinner. Because: Rival Alcaraz has lost his right hand – and that is not unimportant in tennis.”
