Carlos Alcaraz’s split with Juan Carlos Ferrero has shocked the tennis world.
Alcaraz parted ways with Ferrero on Wednesday, a month after capping off his incredible 2025 season at the ATP Finals.
It was reported that the Spaniard ultimately removed his longtime mentor from his team due to a failure to agree on a new coaching contract.
According to MARCA, Ferrero was given just 48 hours to decide after being proposed a new contract, which included a salary reduction.
The two appeared to have had a healthy player-coach relationship both on and off the court, but Serena Williams‘ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, thinks there was a moment earlier in the year that showed the future of the partnership was in doubt.
Patrick Mouratoglou weighs in on Carlos Alcaraz’s coaching split
Discussing the split on Instagram, Mouratoglou said: “It was a huge shock. Huge for everybody. Nobody expected Carlos and Juan Carlos to break up. We really had the feeling that this collaboration was for life.
“At that age, when you have a very long-term collaboration, the relationship takes another turn, and it becomes almost family. It was working incredibly well; that’s also a point. Carlos was crazy successful.
“So when you put all this together, nobody imagined that this would break at some point. The only reason why there was a doubt was the documentary on Netflix.”
A documentary titled ‘My Way’ was released in April and gave a thorough insight into Alcaraz’s life.
Who would you like to see coach Carlos Alcaraz next?
Mouratoglou continued: “To be able to coach well, the player needs to feel understood, and the coach has to feel that they can have an impact on what’s important.
“I would make a parallel that will sound strange, but it’s exactly like a couple. You know, there are married couples you think are the ideal couple. You think, ‘Wow, I wish my couple would be as great as theirs’ and six months later they break up, and everybody says, ‘how come?’
“This breakup between Carlos and Juan Carlos shows that nobody knows what’s happening behind closed doors. It’s a difficult moment for Carlos, for sure, especially being so close to a Grand Slam. Nobody can say what’s going to happen. Nobody.”
Juan Carlos Ferrero’s comments in the Carlos Alcaraz documentary
Perhaps one of the most striking scenes in the Netflix documentary ‘My Way’, which Mouratoglou may be referring to, was a conversation between Alcaraz and Ferrero.
The two discussed the direction of Alcaraz’s career, with Ferrero voicing his frustrations at the 22-year-old regarding how he spends his time off the court.
As per Tennis Channel, discussing the reaction to the season ahead of the Italian Open earlier this season, Alcaraz said: “I’m not going to say ‘the fight,’ but the conversation we have, coach and player, we all have it.
Why do you think Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero split?
“We all have those conversations about everything: about the tournaments, the practices, the things that I want to do that I probably don’t have to.
“Whoever says they don’t have it, they lie. I think that’s the beauty, you know, having mixed feelings, mixed points of view.
“At the end we go in the same path. We go all together. So, I think that’s beautiful, as well. I think that’s what I saw in the commentary, as well.”
Alcaraz has yet to confirm a new coach ahead of the 2026 season, with the Australian Open just weeks away.
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