Juan Carlos Ferrero continues to split coaching duties with Samuel Lopez.
The former world number one was in attendance for Carlos Alcaraz’s win over Jannik Sinner in the US Open final on Sunday.
However, the 45-year-old won’t be joining him when he returns to ATP Tour action, with Ferrero set to take another brief hiatus from his role as head coach.
Just as he has done on several occasions this year, Lopez will take the reins until Ferrero returns.
But when is Ferrero scheduled to return to Alcaraz’s coaching box?
Juan Carlos Ferrero will return to coach Carlos Alcaraz at the Shanghai Masters
Spanish media outlet Marca has reported that Lopez will take charge for Alcaraz’s next two tournaments.
- Laver Cup (Begins September 19)
- Japan Open (Begins September 24)
Alcaraz played a leading role in Team Europe’s win at the Laver Cup last year, beating Taylor Fritz in the decider.
He then headed over to Beijing for the China Open, something he won’t be doing this year, as he instead plans to travel to Tokyo.
With Lopez by his side, Alcaraz will hope to pick up another title to add to his ATP Tour-topping tally in 2025.
| Rank | Player | Number of titles | Titles |
| 1 | Carlos Alcaraz | 7 | Rotterdam Open, Monte-Carlo Masters, Italian Open, French Open, Queen’s, Cincinnati Open, US Open |
| T-2 | Alexander Bublik | 3 | Halle Open, Swiss Open, Kitzbuhel Open |
| T-2 | Luciano Darderi | 3 | Grand Prix Hassan II, Swedish Open, Croatia Open |
| T-4 | Jannik Sinner | 2 | Australian Open, Wimbledon |
| T-4 | Flavio Cobolli | 2 | Tiriac Open, Hamburg Open |
| T-4 | Denis Shapovalov | 2 | Dallas Open, Los Cabos Open |
| T-4 | Felix Auger-Aliassime | 2 | Adelaide International, Open Occitanie |
| T-4 | Taylor Fritz | 2 | Stuttgart Open, Eastbourne Open |
Ferrero will then return to Alcaraz’s coaching box in Shanghai for the penultimate Masters 1000 event of the year.
Alcaraz has a solid record at the Shanghai Masters, winning five of the seven matches he’s played at the event.
- 2023 Shanghai Masters 2R [WIN] vs Gergoire Barrere
- 2023 Shanghai Masters 3R [WIN] vs Dan Evans
- 2023 Shanghai Masters 4R [LOSS] vs Grigor Dimitrov
- 2024 Shanghai Masters 2R [WIN] vs Juncheng Shang
- 2024 Shanghai Masters 3R [WIN] vs Yibing Wu
- 2024 Shanghai Masters 4R [WIN] vs Gael Monfils
- 2024 Shanghai Masters QF [LOSS] vs Tomas Machac
The new world number one will look to pick up his maiden title in Shanghai when the tournament begins on Monday, September 29.
Have Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner found the perfect coaching solution?
You would’ve been forgiven for thinking that the frequent swapping of coaches between Ferrero and Lopez could trouble Alcaraz.
That clearly hasn’t been the case, however, as the Spaniard has won two Grand Slam titles this year, with the pair sharing the role.
Interestingly, a similar situation has arisen with world number two Sinner, who himself has two coaches.
Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi both usually attend the majority of the Italian’s tournaments, although Cahill is set to follow Ferrero’s lead in 2025.
Having originally planned to retire, Cahill changed his mind and will simply attend fewer tournaments from 2026 onwards.
With the world’s top two players having, in essence, ‘two head coaches’, perhaps their rivals should take note…
World number three Alexander Zverev has been looking to find the right coach recently to help him close the gap to Alcaraz and Sinner.
Travelling to Spain, Zverev trained with Rafael and Toni Nadal, learning from the legendary pair.
He has also continued to work with his brother, Mischa Zverev, and his father, Alexander Zverev Sr, on tour.
Maybe a combination of the four voices could help drive Zverev to finally win his first Grand Slam title in 2026.
Zverev will return to Grand Slam action at the Australian Open, which begins on Monday, January 12.
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