Former doubles world No 1 Todd Woodbridge has questioned Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s \u201cmind-boggling\u201d decision to split with Juan Carlos Ferrero, suggesting the two should resolve any differences and reunite.<\/p>\n
Reigning singles world No 1 and six-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz announced last week that he had split from long-time coach Ferrero<\/a>, ending one of the most successful player-coach partnerships of recent times.<\/p>\n Alcaraz<\/a> won all six of his Grand Slam titles under Ferrero\u2019s<\/a> guidance and also achieved two year-end world No 1 finishes, while also becoming the youngest-ever man to top the ATP Rankings in September 2022.<\/p>\n In an interview this week, former world No 1 Ferrero confirmed reports that a contractual dispute between the two parties led to the split<\/a>, ending a hugely successful seven-year spell of the two Spaniards working together.<\/p>\n Alcaraz is now working with Samuel Lopez as his head coach<\/a>, with the coach having initially worked alongside Ferrero as a permanent member of the team since the start of 2025.<\/p>\n However, there is no denying that this is a change of huge significance for Alcaraz, who has been working with Ferrero since he was a teenager.<\/p>\n Speaking on The Tennis<\/em><\/a>, Woodbridge \u2014 a 22-time Grand Slam champion across men\u2019s and mixed doubles titles \u2014 claimed that Alcaraz could struggle to add to his major title collection without Ferrero.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s going to make it very difficult for Carlos to win a major next year \u2014 we know he\u2019s good enough,\u201d said Woodbridge<\/a>.<\/p>\n Aryna Sabalenka ready for \u2018unpredictable\u2019 Nick Kyrgios showdown at controversial \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Novak Djokovic\u2019s future in doubt after \u2018disappointing\u2019 2025 as Andy Roddick fuels retirement speculation<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cBut that change, at this point of his career, I find it mind-boggling.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking about one of the greatest duos of coaching partnerships that our game has seen.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would seem from reports that are out there that it wasn\u2019t between the two of them, it was between outside sources and negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if we\u2019re talking about a bit of money here, or scheduling there, get it right, get it together, and continue with this incredible career.\u201d<\/p>\n News of Alcaraz\u2019s split from Ferrero came almost exactly one month before the Australian Open, the opening Grand Slam tournament of 2026 \u2014 and the Spaniard\u2019s first official event of the season.<\/p>\n The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that the 22-year-old has not yet won, and Alcaraz has spoken openly about his hunger to complete the Career Grand Slam in Melbourne next year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Alcaraz will be the joint-heavy favourite for the title alongside world No 2 Jannik Sinner, with the two having won the last eight major tournaments between them.<\/p>\n However, Woodbridge believes that Alcaraz and Ferrero\u2019s split puts two-time defending champion Sinner in the driver\u2019s seat for the title.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cWhen Juan Carlos hasn\u2019t been around the last few years, Alcaraz does not play as good, and you can see him looking out into the stands \u2014 he\u2019s actually a little unsure of himself, and it\u2019s gonna take months to settle down.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then, will he settle? In the meantime, he may give others the opportunity to get some victories.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven that change, I think Jannik has the upper hand and he gets the three-peat.\u201d<\/p>\n Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites<\/a> list for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n Read Next<\/strong>: Seven famous tennis stars who retired in 2025 \u2013 ft. Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova<\/a><\/p>\n The post Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s \u2018mind-boggling\u2019 coaching split slammed as former world No 1 questions Grand Slam hopes<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former doubles world No 1 Todd Woodbridge has questioned Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s \u201cmind-boggling\u201d decision to split with Juan Carlos Ferrero, suggesting the two should resolve any differences and reunite. Reigning singles world No 1 and six-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz announced last week that he had split from long-time coach Ferrero, ending one of the most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Tennis News<\/h2>\n