The split that signals Carlos Alcaraz's next phase

Carlos Alcaraz’s outfit on Friday radiated a relaxed, baseballinspired cool, a stark contrast to the mood in the room. The Spanish superstar, who usually punctuates sentences with a sunshine smile, was guarded and far from chatty in his first official media interaction of 2026. A month before the year’s first Major, the Australian Open, the 22-year-old announced that he would be parting ways with his long-standing coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero. The decision, coming at the close of the most defining season of his young career, in which Alcaraz captured eight ATP Tour titles, including two majors, and reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking, ripped through the sport’s seismic balance.What? Why? How? Three of the first four questions posed to him by reporters were on the split with Ferrero, who had likened Alcaraz to his fourth child not so long ago. “He’s like my fourth kid, I have three at home, he’s the fourth,” he had said. The first question was pegged on a reaction from his arch rival, the man he stood across the net from in the last three Grand Slam finals, Jannik Sinner. The 24-year-old was asked about Darren Cahill, who has been coaching him since the summer of 2022. “He’s our dad, for the whole team. You feel in a very safe place,” Sinner, the two-time defending champion, said.Alcaraz, looking to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam at a venue he hasn’t had great success at, struggled to find length in replies on his former coach. “With Juan Carlos we decide to do it,” said Alcaraz, “I have plenty of confidence in the team that I have right now. The practices have been (going) really well, I’m feeling well ... with the team that I have right now.”Alcaraz, affectionately known as Carlitos, has always had the love of tennis and its storytellers, who welcomed the sport’s golden child with open arms. Gifted, bold, and unafraid, until now Alcaraz, who travels with his father Alcaraz Gonzalez, and older brother Alvaro, who doubles up as hitting partner, has never really known media censure.The difference is particularly stark when viewed against Sinner’s path, the two players bookending the men’s singles draw. While Alcaraz, who opens against Aussie Adam Walton, grew into superstardom unchallenged, Sinner, a four-time Major winner, operated under a cloud of scrutiny after he returned positive drug tests two years ago. Victories came with caveats, his public image shaped as much by explanations and timelines as by his remarkable ball striking ability.When pressed on the subject of Ferrero, Alcaraz had few details. “It is something we just decide. I think (any) chapter of life has to end. We decided like this,” he said, “I (have) got to say that I’m really grateful for this seven years I’ve been with Juan Carlos. I learned a lot. Probably thanks to him I’m the player that I am right now. But internally, we decided like this. We closed this chapter, (it’s) mutual.”Alcaraz will continue with Samuel Lopez, a 55-year-old, who coached Pablo Carreno Busta for nine years, before signing up with the world No. 1 in December 2024. Last year Lopez worked alongside head coach Ferrero, the duo splitting coaching duties between them, and bagging the ATP Coach of the Year award.