Former World No.1 Urges Carlos Alcaraz’s Father to ‘Stay Away’ from Coaching Process After Juan Carlos Ferrero Split: “They Can’t Interfere”

Carlos Alcaraz will be working with Samuel Lopez at the Australian Open, where he will be bidding to complete the Career Grand Slam.

Former World No.1 Urges Carlos Alcaraz’s Father to ‘Stay Away’ from Coaching Process After Juan Carlos Ferrero Split: “They Can’t Interfere”

Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Alcaraz Gonzalez, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/val, Carlos Alcaraz 4K)

Former World No.1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov has called out Carlos Alcaraz‘s father, Carlos Alcaraz Gonzalez, accusing him of ‘interfering’ in the 22-year-old’s career. The two-time Grand Slam singles champion also made it clear that if Alcaraz’s family approaches him to take the youngster under his wings, he would decline the offer.

His reaction came in the aftermath of Alcaraz’s split with Juan Carlos Ferrero. The 2003 French Open champion disagreed with certain parts of the new contract, but he believes things could have been solved had both sides communicated better.

The split not just shocked the tennis world but also Ferrero, as he did not foresee this happening after such a successful season, given that Alcaraz won eight titles from 11 finals, including two Grand Slam trophies. Much has been said about the end of the seven-year partnership, with some blaming Alcaraz’s father. Kafelnikov also joined the discussion and revealed why he wouldn’t consider coaching Alcaraz. He told CLAY:

If you ask me, I personally would not want to deal with the parents. If Carlos approaches someone directly, that’s OK.

Alcaraz won 24 tour-level titles under Ferrero, including his six Majors. The youngster also became the No.1 under Ferrero.

The first thing a new coach should ask for is that the parents stay away from the coaching process. They can sit in the box, they can travel with the team, but they can’t interfere. A father cannot be an agent, taking care of all the deals, scheduling, and everything else. I’m honestly not sure who could take the helm now.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov added

This year, the two Majors that Alcaraz won were the French Open and the US Open by defeating Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz also made the final of the ATP Finals but failed to beat the four-time Grand Slam champion.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov on what could’ve led to disagreements between Carlos Alcaraz’s team and Juan Carlos Ferrero

Yevgeny Kafelnikov thinks the disagreement between Carlos Alcaraz‘s inner circle and Juan Carlos Ferrero stemmed from the latter’s strict coaching style. Earlier this year, when Netflix released the Carlos Alcaraz: My Way documentary, one of the topics of discussion in the tennis community was Ferrero questioning Alcaraz’s work ethic.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Alcaraz (4)
Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/Carlos Alcaraz 4K)

Probably, with Carlos being Spanish, very young, and attracted to all the off-court temptations that success brings… it must have been difficult to deal with him lately. It’s understandable: you’re 22, all the girls are after you, there’s fame and everything that comes with it. Nobody could resist that at such a young age. Juan Carlos surely saw all this and tried to separate the work on the court from all the external noise. That’s probably where the clash occurred, at least from my point of view.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov told CLAY

Ferrero joined Alcaraz’s team in 2019 when the latter was just 16 years old. The previous season, Alcaraz joined the Ferrero Tennis Academy.

Prior to coaching Alcaraz, Ferrero was part of Alexander Zverev‘s team, but the partnership lasted only seven months. Ferrero, in his recent interviews, has made it clear that he doesn’t want to be in the entourage of another player, at least in the near future.

Next year, while it’s unclear who Alcaraz will hire, he will continue to work alongside coach Samuel Lopez, who joined his team last December. The big tournament of the season is the Australian Open, where Alcaraz will be aiming to complete the Career Grand Slam.

But Alcaraz has never progressed beyond the quarterfinals of the Melbourne Slam, losing twice in the last eight. He lost to Zverev and Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals in the previous two seasons.

Also read: Former WTA Player Unconvinced of Other Players Challenging Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner