"It's not Carlos who made this decision," Alcaraz's first coach reacts to the end of his adventure with Ferrero

After an exceptional season, Carlos Alcaraz surprised everyone by parting ways with his mentor Juan Carlos Ferrero. A decision that his former coach Kiko Navarro attributes to outside forces.

© Alcaraz_Ferrero_USO25_SARAH STIER_GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA_GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP

Adrien Guyot

le 18/12/2025 à 09h03

2 min to read

Alcaraz Carlos Ferrero Juan

The announcement had the effect of a bomb in the world of the little yellow ball this Wednesday, December 17. After eight years of collaboration, Carlos Alcaraz and his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero have ended their partnership to general surprise.

The world number 1 is coming off the best season of his professional career. But, at 22 years old, the Spaniard is making his first major coaching change.

"Everything has a beginning and an end"

Kiko Navarro, who was Alcaraz's first coach, knows his young compatriot well. For him, this unexpected decision is not the work of his former protégé, but rather of people in his entourage. He also mentioned Samuel Lopez, who worked alongside Ferrero in 2025, winning with him the ATP Awards Coach of the Year award.

"Obviously, they have been very discreet and everything has a beginning and an end. It surprised me, but if it had happened last year, it would have astonished me more than this year. It comes more from the entourage than from the player himself, Carlitos (Alcaraz) defends his coaches a lot.

He did it with me and I know he did it with Juan Carlos (Ferrero), but there comes a time when, for reasons that depend neither on him nor on sport, this decision was made.

Juan Carlos did a spectacular job, I worked with him for two years and there is not much to criticize him for. The people who made this decision, because it's not Carlitos, have their reasons that I don't know for now," assured Navarro.

"The important thing is that Carlos respects his coach"

"I know that Alcaraz's father admires Samuel Lopez a lot. I find it a bit unfortunate that it seems you need to be a big name, like Ferrero, Moya, Djokovic or Nadal, to be Carlitos' coach.

I don't think that's the case. In the end, the important thing is that Carlos respects his coach. In fact, Samu has more experience as a coach than Ferrero, which is normal since he worked with Nicolas Almagro and Pablo Carreño Busta.

He knows the tour. He is a very humble person and a great professional, and I see him well as Alcaraz's head coach. But I think a second person will be needed, because the season is very long and there is a lot of travel.

And maybe that second person will be more well-known than Samu, but that doesn't mean they will be the head coach. I would bet, without having spoken with his father yet, that his number 1 coach will be Samu López," he concluded for RNE Deportes, in an interview relayed by Punto de Break.