Top tennis players who split with their coaches in 2025
Professional tennis is highly competitive. Whether it’s the men’s or the women’s categories, a strong coaching team is key to any player’s success.
However, if the same partnership doesn’t foster growth and positive results, the same coaching team can become insignificant, potentially even make things worse.
2025 was marked by many upheavals in tennis, which resulted in many top players parting ways with their coaches in order to spark a change. Here, we look at eight of the most high-profile player–coach splits of the year.
Elena Rybakina | Split with Goran Ivaniševic
The Kazakh had hired Croatian legend Goran Ivaniševic in November 2024 after parting ways with her previous coach, Stefano Vukov. Ivanisevic’s previous coaching stint had been a successful one with the great Novak Djokovic.
However, the new partnership didn’t work out as expected, and after Rybakina’s fourth-round exit from the 2025 Australian Open, the Croat resigned from his position. The reason for the split was related to Rybakina’s former coach, Vukov, rejoining the team despite a WTA suspension. This left Ivaniševic unsure about the dynamics of the coaching staff, and so he decided to move on after the two-month trial period.
Vukov, Rybakina’s long-time coach, is back and guided her to qualification at the year-ending WTA Finals, where the 26-year-old ended up winning the coveted trophy to finish the year as World No. 5, which shows that Vukov’s return was the right choice in the end.
Novak Djokovic | Split with Andy Murray
The whole tennis world was surprised when Novak Djokovic decided to team up with former Grand Slam winner Andy Murray in November 2024. It was intriguing to see Djokovic hiring the services of his former rival, with whom he shared the court many times.
The aim of the partnership was to boost Djokovic’s performances and enable him to compete against the younger, more athletic opponents. However, Murray was unable to have the desired impact, and the two parted ways mutually after six months in May 2025.
While the partnership started well, with Djokovic reaching the Australian Open semi-finals and the Miami Open final, what followed was a string of underwhelming results interspersed with injury issues, leading to the two parting ways ahead of Wimbledon. Djokovic is now being coached by his former analyst and assistant coach, Boris Bošnjakovic.
Jasmine Paolini | Split with Marc Lopez
The Italian singles and doubles player also split up with new coach Marc López in July 2025 after working with him for just three months. Earlier in the season, Paolini had parted ways with her coach of ten years, Renzo Furlan, and the reasoning for the split wasn’t disclosed.
During those three months, López guided Paolini to her first WTA 1000 title in Rome, a French Open doubles title, and a semi-final appearance at the Miami Open, which were all significant achievements. However, Paolini’s performances at the Grand Slams in the singles category were underwhelming. She made a fourth-round exit at the French Open and a second-round exit at Wimbledon, which prompted her split with López.
Paolini then hired a recently retired player for an interim coach; Federico Gaio replaced López, but the Italian was also let go in November. Currently, Paolini’s coaching staff comprises technical coach Danilo Pizzorno and her doubles partner, Sara Errani, who is acting as her strategic coach.
Naomi Osaka | Split with Patrick Mouratoglou
Experienced coach Patrick Mouratoglou has worked with several top players, like Serena Williams, Simona Halep, and Holger Rune, having also been running his tennis academy since 1996. Hence, it came as no surprise when former Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka decided to team up with him in September 2024.
Ten months later, however, the two decided to part ways after a string of poor performances, following a fourth-round exit at the Washington DC Open. The two parted ways mutually, with Mouratoglou claiming responsibility for the poor results and citing a lack of competitiveness, while also praising the improvement in Osaka’s physical strength over the period.
After her split with Mouratoglou, Osaka teamed up with Polish coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. The partnership yielded instant improvement, with Osaka reaching her first WTA 1000 final at the Canadian Open, a feat she achieved after three years. She has since made major strides in her quest to return to the top level.
Stefanos Tsitsipas | Split with Goran Ivaniševic
Stefanos Tsitsipas seems to have lost his way in the last few years. From reaching a career-high third in the world ranking in August 2021, Tsitsipas was prompted to look for a coach after plummeting to 30th. He decided to collaborate with Goran Ivaniševic in May 2025. However, two poor results in Halle and Wimbledon led to an ugly split between the Greek player and the Croatian coach.
After the first-round exit at Wimbledon, the partnership came to a premature end, with Ivaniševic being scathing in his assessment of Tsitsipas, citing a lack of preparation on the player’s end. Tsitsipas, on the other hand, said that he was seeking a supportive family-like coaching environment rather than a strict and intense one, which resulted in the split.
Tsitsipas brought back his father, Apostolos, as his primary coach in July. The partnership is poised to be a more successful one, especially given the 58-year-old was the one who guided his son to a French Open final and the World No. 3 ranking.
Frances Tiafoe | Split with David Witt
After an underwhelming year, Frances Tiafoe ended the 2025 season prematurely after the Shanghai Masters exit in October, and also split up with coach David Witt and coaching staff member Jordi Arconada.
Tiafoe’s collaboration with Witt had been for a year and a half, while Arconada had been part of his staff for five years. Under Witt’s tutelage, Tiafoe reached the 2024 US Open semi-final and also made a French Open quarter-final appearance in 2025. However, the rest of his season was marred with disappointing performances, and his world ranking also dropped down to 29th, which led to the American deciding to part ways and seek a coaching change for 2026.
In October 2025, Tiafoe hired former American player Todd Martin as his coach going into 2026. Martin is a former top-ten-ranked player and also reached the men’s singles finals of the 1994 Australian Open and the 1999 US Open. Having played at the big stages, Martin could be an astute signing for “Big Foe”.
Carlos Alcaraz | Split with Juan Carlos Ferrero
This was arguably the most surprising player–coach split of the year. While every other split could be explained by underwhelming performances, Alcaraz and Ferrero parting ways was strange given the prodigious Spaniard had a phenomenal season, on the back of which Ferrero was awarded the ATP Coach of the Year award.
Ferrero had been Alcaraz’s coach for the past seven years and led him to 24 career titles, which include six Grand Slams and eight ATP Masters 1000 titles among others. Alcaraz ended the year with two majors, three ATP Masters 1000 titles, as well as a runner-up outing at the year-ending ATP Finals in Turin.
However, the two parted ways in December without giving a particular reason. As per speculation, Alcaraz’s inner circle decided to move on to a different coaching style, while financial disagreements and tournament scheduling issues are also considered to have led to the split.
Alcaraz is currently training with assistant coach Samuel López, who will act as interim coach for the foreseeable future until a permanent coach is hired.
Grigor Dimitrov | Split with Daniel Vallverdú
In December, another major player–coach split was announced when Grigor Dimitrov parted ways with Daniel Vallverdú, ending a partnership that began in late 2022.
Incidentally, this was the second coaching stint of Vallverdú with Dimitrov, the first one being from 2016 to 2019. In his second stint with Dimitrov, Vallverdú propelled the Bulgarian to a title at the 2024 Brisbane International and a return to the top ten in the world rankings.
The decision taken by Dimitrov is not a consequence of poor performances, but with the aim of a fresh start in 2026. After his exploits at Wimbledon, where he unfortunately ended up retiring due to injury after a two-set lead against Jannik Sinner in the Round of 16, Dimitrov had to undergo surgery for a pectoral injury, which saw him miss out on tournaments until a first-round appearance at the Paris Masters, after which he decided to end his 2025 campaign.
Dimitrov has since added Xavier Malisse, a former top 20 Belgian player, to his coaching team for 2026. Malisse was seen attending a training session with him in December, with the partnership formally announced ahead of the new year.
