As the dust settles following the shock split between world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, the first party has finally broken his silence.
A “hurting” Ferrero spoke to Spanish sports newspaper Marca this week from his academy in Villena, Spain, roughly a week after the news was revealed through a series of social media statements. Ferrero offered his side of what has become a messy breakup between one of the ATP’s most successful coach-player partnerships in recent memory, pointing to a breakdown in contract negotiations as the decisive factor.
“Everything seemed like it was set to continue,” Ferrero said. “It’s true that when the year ends, there are certain things at the contract level that have to be looked at. And as in any new contract, looking ahead to next year, there were certain things on which we did not agree…
“It may be that they could have been saved if we had sat down to talk, but in the end we didn’t sit down and we decided not to continue.”
Ferrero was quick to shut down speculation around money, saying “the financial issue wasn’t one of the problems” that led to the split. His comments addressed rumors in the Spanish press suggesting he had demanded a dramatically higher salary to remain in Alcaraz’s camp.
He also dismissed reports that a clash between training bases played a role. Alcaraz grew up training at the Carlos Alcaraz Academy in Murcia, run by his father for more than 30 years, while Ferrero operates the Ferrero Tennis Academy in Villena, where Alcaraz spent much of his formative time on tour.
“We’ve never seen this as a rivalry,” Ferrero said. “We’ve gradually come to understand that, given the demands of the tour, Carlos would want to spend more time at home… We offered the academy so he could train whenever necessary, but it was never an obligation. Never.”