The Alcaraz-Ferrero Split: What lies ahead for the World No. 1?

Carlos Alcaraz announced his split from Juan Carlos Ferrero, his coach of seven years according to his social media account on December 17th 2025. The news came as a huge shock to ex-players and tennis fans alike as Alcaraz had a phenomenal 2025 season and an incredibly successful partnership with his compatriot Ferrero as coach and mentor. Juan Carlos Ferrero was also the recipient of the ATP’s ‘Coach of the Year’ award alongside assistant coach Samuel López. 

In 2025 alone, Alcaraz won a total of eight titles which included two grand slams, three ATP Masters 1000 and three ATP 500 titles. He also finished the season as the No.1 ranked player in the ATP World rankings. His seven-year stint with Ferrero has been a highly successful one with the former World No. 1 guiding Alcaraz to 24 ATP titles which includes six grand slam titles and eight Masters 1000 titles amongst others. 

Based on his statement posted online, there is a feeling that Ferrero wanted to continue in the role but it could have been a decision taken by Alcaraz’s inner circle to change things up and move towards a different coaching style. Now the question arises – Why fix what ain’t broke? While there has been no reasoning provided for the sudden split, speculations suggest that it’s a mix of financial disagreements and Carlos’s tournament scheduling issues that have led to the split. 

Let’s take a look at their journey and what lies ahead for Alcaraz without his mentor in his coaching staff – 

The Alcaraz – Ferrero Era  

Former World No. 1 and French Open winner, Juan Carlos Ferrero took Carlos under his wings in 2018. Alcaraz was only 15 at the time but Ferrero had seen enough to understand that Alcaraz was a special talent that needed nurturing and development. Their first major success came at the 2022 US Open with Alcaraz winning the tournament and becoming the youngest player in tennis history to end the year ranked World No. 1 on the PIF ATP rankings. That was just the onset of the meteoric rise of Carlos Alcaraz in Men’s tennis. 

Under Ferrero’s supervision and guidance, Alcaraz has gone on to win 24 tour-level titles which also includes six majors (two French Open, two Wimbledon and two US Open titles). Alcaraz has not just improved his overall play, he has also shown an unrelenting mentality and ability to perform under intense pressure on numerous occasions. While some of the attributes certainly belong to a player, a coach also deserves massive credit for a player’s all-round development and that credit must go to Juan Carlos Ferrero.  

The two have grown over these seven years, not just Alcaraz as an extraordinary player but Juan Carlos Ferrero as an excellent coach as well and with this incredible partnership coming to an end, Ferrero could be attracting a lot of interest from top players looking for a top quality and experienced coach. 

Current Situation and possible long-term replacement 

Since the announcement of the split, Carlos Alcaraz has been training under Samuel López who is still a part of his coaching team. However, López seems to be a temporary arrangement who has taken charge for the 2026 Australian Open and further until a permanent coaching solution has been sought by Alcaraz’s team. 

While there aren’t many top coaches available at the moment, there are a few options that Alcaraz and Co. can choose. However, as per Alcaraz’s childhood coach Carlos Santos, the pre-requisite for a coaching appointment is that the coach should stay in Alcaraz’s home town Murcia for training and coaching duties as Alcaraz doesn’t want to move away from home except when participating in tournaments.  

A few familiar names are cropping up in tennis circles like compatriot David Ferrer but he isn’t available due to personal reasons. Another option for Alcaraz is former tennis great Goran Ivaniševi? who is currently free and has had a successful coaching partnership with another tennis legend Novak Djokovic. However, the most glamorous name doing the rounds is his compatriot and one of Spain’s finest, Rafael Nadal. In many ways, this partnership makes sense as both have similar mentality, technical brilliance and humility. Moreover, having a Spanish coach would suit Alcaraz more for communication purposes as well. As good as it sounds, the Nadal scenario may be difficult to happen as he has a young family and management responsibilities at his own academy in Mallorca, Spain. Hence, Alcaraz might have to look at other realistic options which also include former Spanish players Nicolás Almagro and Carlos Moya. 

Conclusion 

While a player splitting up with his/her coach is not uncommon in tennis, the timing and the situation of the Alcaraz-Ferrero split is baffling. If he had been underperforming, it would have been a reasonable move but removing a coach when you have just played one of the best seasons of your career, winning majors and ending the season at No. 1 ranking, hardly makes sense. Moving on though, I do believe Carlos will miss his mentor on the sidelines as there have been many instances of on-court coaching that has benefitted him to turn matches around. Not just as a player but also as a person, Ferrero has played a key role in Alcaraz’s personal growth as well. 

In the short-term Alcaraz may be fine as he is still working with his assistant coach Samuel López but to find a coach with whom you can find the same level of understanding and camaraderie can be challenging. I do believe that Alcaraz could take time to settle in a new coaching environment and might have a few upsetting results next year but he is too good a player to collapse without the advice of his long-term coach and mentor. 

Although Alcaraz and Ferrero have now parted ways under unusual circumstances, we do hope that the separation wasn’t resentful and possibly a few years down the line they can find their way back together as it was a partnership that brought Alcaraz a lot of success and joyous moments.