Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s Ex-Coach Finally Breaks Silence on Split After Flying Home in Middle of Roland Garros: “I Blocked Him on My Phone”

Mariano Puerta, now the former coach of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, flew to Miami after the Spaniard’s five-set battle against Damir Dzumhur in the first round of the French Open. This came as a surprise because Puerta left his team in the middle of a Grand Slam tournament.

Puerta’s side of the story was different from what Fokina had said after his four-set defeat to Thiago Agustin Tirante in the second round. During his interview with Punto de Break, the Argentine did not hesitate to show journalist Fernando Murciego the text messages he had sent to Fokina.

Puerta arrived in Paris completely exhausted because, according to him, Fokina was showing no signs of improvement in his mental and emotional state. He also admitted that dealing with Fokina when he was emotional on a consistent basis used to be difficult for him, as his reactions were “bordering on disrespect,” and he claimed the “whole team is tired of this.” Puerta then recalled what exactly happened during Fokina’s first Roland Garros match.

Yes, something bad happened in the fourth or fifth set. At a point in the match when I was trying to encourage him, when I wanted to push him so he wouldn’t lose focus, Alex turned around with a look on his face that made it seem like he was going to kill me, ‘Can’t you see I’m tired? That I can’t move? Don’t you ever say another word to me! ‘ He said it in a way that I still feel.

Puerta was dealing with a health issue on that day. While Fokina was cycling, Puerta spoke to his manager and told him it was his last day in the entourage. But he did not end things then.

He returned to his hotel, and after three hours, he sent a text to Fokina, who replied, “We will talk tomorrow.” But Puerta revealed the conversation never happened because the next morning, this happened:

Suddenly, someone from his team calls me: ‘Alex wants me to tell you to take care of your plane ticket, find it yourself, and pay for it. You can go to Miami.’… That set everything off. I froze. Two hours later, I reacted, blocked him on my phone, blocked his wife too, packed my suitcase, checked out of the hotel, and that was that.

Mariano Puerta added

Puerta also forwarded the text messages he sent to Fokina to all the team members, and they all congratulated him.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina told a different story

At the press conference after his second-round exit, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina said Mariano Puerta “abandoned” him in the worst moment. Fokina said they did not fight and ended things in a normal way. The 26-year-old also claimed that Puerta did not communicate with anyone and simply left for Miami.

That’s a lie, that’s not how it happened. All the reasons are in that message. […] I offered him my perspective on everything that could help him improve… Honestly, I don’t deserve everything he said or everything that happened.

Mariano Puerta said during his interview with Punto de Break

As per Puerta, Fokina suffers from “temporary madness“, and even after advising him to hire someone to help him in the mental department, his former protege was not open to doing so.

Fokina is a five-time ATP singles titlist. At the French Open, he is a one-time quarterfinalist, reaching the stage in 2021. It was also his career’s best Grand Slam performance. Fokina came close to winning a Big Title at the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters, but he failed to go past Stefanos Tsitsipas.

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