A month after the divorce between Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero – “I would have liked to continue,” said the coach – the former … coach of the Murcian tennis player, whom he molded from a young age in his academy until he became number one in the world, has managed to turn the page and has embarked on a new career path. He changes the racket for the golf club, one of his great hobbies and a sport that he has practiced for 25 years, when he was still active on the ATP circuit, thanks to his close relationship with Sergio García. Ferrero has joined the staff of Ángel Ayora, a 21-year-old young man from Malaga and one of the great promises of world golf. The Valencian will work as a mental ‘coach’.
«Delighted to announce a new professional collaboration in 2026. I will now work with Ángel Ayora, a young golfer with great potential, his coach Juan Ochoa and his representation group Allinsports. “We will work on the mental side of performance and professional development,” Ferrero reported on his Instagram account; «tennis is my life and I will continue with the Academy [de Villena] and the circuit, but I also love golf, an individual sport where the mental aspect plays a crucial role. I look forward to offering my experience and support to Angel’s growth. We have already started and I am very motivated. Álex Ruiz, nutritionist from Alcaraz, also joins the work team.
Ferrero, handicap 1.4, close to professionalism, accompanied Ayora last week to the Dubai Desert Classic, one of the great tournaments on the European circuit. In principle, he will not attend all of the Malaga native’s commitments, as this week he faces the Bahrain Championship, also on the DP World Tour. In Dubai he gave his first interview once his alliance with Ayora, a player represented by Javier Ballesteros, son of Seve, became known. He has done it on the specialized portal ‘Ten-Golf’. He acknowledged “having offers” from male and female tennis players, but right now he prefers to try new challenges.
«I spoke with Juan Ochoa, Ángel Ayora’s coach, and they gave me the opportunity to enter the world of golf a little more and see what is needed and required to compete at the highest level. It’s a trial period, but I’m liking it, I’m comfortable. It is a world that I know and, above all, I believe that the help with Ángel is on a mental level, in managing emotions, in golf the head is something very important. Players are used to hitting very good shots and when they hit a bad one they punish themselves a lot. If you go down a little bit, the energy goes down. Body language is very important and, at the level of being at 100%, I think it is essential that the mental aspect is at 10,” explains Ferrero from the Emirates.
Room for improvement
«Ágel is an introverted boy and the way he is has a lot of influence on his attitude, his body language and his way of expressing himself on the field. These are little things that I think I can help a lot with. He still has a lot to improve in that aspect. I think he does quite well at managing emotions. He is a player who does not express much about bad shots nor is he one to complain too much, but I would like him to cheer up a little more, to connect a little more with people and for that to make him be in a slightly higher state of mind. “These are things that can be improved,” adds the former ATP world number one.
There are similarities between the figures of Alcaraz, concentrated for the semifinals of the Australian Open, the great one he is missing, and Ayora. Both represent youth and present. Although Ferrero accompanied the Murcian since his arrival to professionalism, the Malaga native is already installed in the elite. He lived a dream year in 2025 in his first year in the top European division, almost reaching the PGA Tour in the United States. Appearing for the first time in the top-100 in the world, that margin that he still has to cover has stimulated Ferrero to want to work at his side. «Comparisons right now are very difficult to make, but I would say that, just as Carlos has a level of the best—or the two best—I think Ángel can go very high. He has an excellent level and touch on the ball. From there, the work you have to do is fight every day, train well, give quality to your training, know very well the things you have to improve, the aspects you have to improve in your golf, and try to do it as best as possible.
This is how he defines his new pupil, a player who is chasing his first victory on the European circuit: «He is a very calm boy, but what has surprised me most is that outside of the round he wants to do everything very perfectly: the issue of rest, food, sleeping the hours he has to sleep, the supplements he has to take… All of this, to be a 21-year-old boy, who is normally more clueless, you have to be very on top of them so that they really take everything seriously and are in perfect condition. conditions. In that aspect he is a boy who is very interested in doing everything very well and I think that is very good for his future. Ayora, by the way, has said ‘no’ to the offers that have come to him from LIV Golf, the league in which Jon Rahm plays and which is financed by Saudi Arabia. He has always said that his dream is to play in the PGA. This 2026, if nothing goes wrong, it will premiere in a major.
