{"id":1600,"date":"2026-01-13T18:00:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T18:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1600"},"modified":"2026-01-13T18:00:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T18:00:34","slug":"alex-corretja-rejects-carlos-alcaraz-motivation-theory-after-his-big-coaching-split","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1600","title":{"rendered":"Alex Corretja rejects Carlos Alcaraz motivation theory after his big coaching split"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> will not have more to prove when he takes to the court for the first time since his split with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, according to former world No 2 Alex Corretja.<\/p>\n

The tennis world was stunned by Alcaraz\u2019s decision to part ways with Ferrero, as a dispute over the renewal of their contract ended a relationship that was one of the most successful player\/coach relationships in tennis history.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz won six Grand Slam titles with former French Open champion Ferrero in his box, but he decided to go in a different direction in 2026 as he looks to continue his reign as world No 1.<\/p>\n

Spanish tennis great Corretja was as surprised as anyone by the big split between Alcaraz and Ferrero, but he has rejected the suggestion that the player who will try to win his first Australian Open title this month has a point to prove in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz may feel inspired to raise his game in a bid to confirm he can thrive without Ferrero in his corner, but Corretja does not believe that will give the 22-year-old additional inspiration as he aims to complete a career Grand Slam in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

More Tennis News<\/h2>\n

Roger Federer \u2013 and not Andy Murray \u2013 would be \u2018perfect coach for Carlos Alcaraz\u2019, says former world No 1<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s latest match against Jannik Sinner was turned into a non-event<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe is not this type of guy. He doesn\u2019t want to prove anything to anyone that he can do it without Juanki,\u201d Corretja told Tennis365 in an exclusive interview, as he used the nick-name widely used for Ferrero in Spain.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the No 1 and in the world. He wants to prove and show himself that he is ready to do well, whether Ferrero is there sitting in his box or Carlos Moya, Corretja or Andy Murray or anybody.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants to say I\u2019m mature enough, I\u2019m 22, I\u2019ve won majors already and I want to keep on improving.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarlos needs to do it for himself. He doesn\u2019t need to prove to anyone else. This is, for me, the most important thing for Carlitos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alcaraz cried on Corretja\u2019s shoulder when he lost the Olympic final<\/a> against Novak Djokovic<\/a> in Paris two years ago and he is also close with Ferrero, so the shock of their parting touched the player who reached the French Open final in 1998 and 2001.<\/p>\n

Yet he is convinced Alcaraz\u2019s reign at the top of men\u2019s tennis alongside Jannik Sinner<\/a> will not be derailed by his coaching split, as he believes coach Sami Lopez will offer some stability in his camp as he steps up from an assistant role into the lead position in the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it won\u2019t affect him, but we have to see what happens when he plays and does not have Juan Carlos in the box,\u201d said Corretja, who will be part of the TNT Sports team for the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing is, he has been with Sami Lopez in the past, he already had that combination with him last year and I feel like he is ready for this.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is fired up for the new season and about having the chance to play well at Melbourne because he has never won there.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, there is this big question about how he will feel, but from what I\u2019ve heard, he\u2019s been working so hard on improving things and he is happy to start a new season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he finished last season quite well. In the past, he finished the season tired and a bit exhausted, but the fact that he was a finalist at the ATP Finals was good.<\/p>\n

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cThen he had this issue with Juanki, but he is ready. He got there in Melbourne a week before to get ready for the condition, so I think he\u2019s going to be ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever happens in Melbourne, I\u2019m not going to be the saying say \u2018oh, you see he has split up with Ferrero and now things are not going well\u2019. I\u2019m not this kind of person to make this kind of judgement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fall-out from Alcaraz\u2019s decision to move on in his career without Ferrero will be a big talking point at this year\u2019s Australian Open and despite Corretja\u2019s comments, plenty of critics will be waiting to see if there is a negative reaction for the world No 1.<\/p>\n

Watch every match of the Australian Open live on TNT Sports and discovery+<\/a>\u00a0from 18 Jan<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Former Wimbledon champion fears Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner domination may be a problem for tennis<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Alex Corretja rejects Carlos Alcaraz motivation theory after his big coaching split<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carlos Alcaraz will not have more to prove when he takes to the court for the first time since his split with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, according to former world No 2 Alex Corretja. The tennis world was stunned by Alcaraz\u2019s decision to part ways with Ferrero, as a dispute over the renewal of their […]<\/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-1600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600","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=1600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}