Last week, it was reported that Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz had ended his collaboration with long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrer.
Alcarras and Ferrero collaborated for seven years, and during that time the Spaniard won 24 trophies, six of them at Grand Slam tournaments.
Carlitos then said in a post on social media that he enjoyed working with Ferrer, and that he sincerely wishes the now former coach all the best in everything that comes his way.
And seven days after that announcement, Ferrero also spoke out. In an interview with "Marka", he said that he and Alcaraz did not break up over money, as some media outlets had written.
"I know there's a lot of talk about money, but I've always shown since my youth that money isn't the most important thing. It's not true that I asked for more, but it's true that I had a high percentage of earnings and I'm grateful for that. I immediately said that the issue of earnings is not the key, nor is it the motive for my work with Carlos," said Ferrero.
He claims that the breakup was not due to the fact that Alcaraz now has his own academy about a hundred kilometers from Ferrer's and that he only works there, because he allegedly does not want to promote his own.
"It's logical that after everything he's achieved, he wants to have his own academy and work there. It's also logical that he wants to be at home more."
Ferrero points out that he is shocked by the breakup.
"Everything seemed to be going well. The season was over, a new contract was being prepared. We didn't agree on all the details, Carlos' camp looked at what was best for him, I looked at what was best for me. It would have been better if we had sat down and discussed everything, but that didn't happen. In the end, we decided to part ways. I don't want to go into details, but that's how it was," said Ferrero.
The Spaniard points out that he would have liked the cooperation to have continued.
"I think the results were excellent, and our relationship was spectacular. We never argued for a moment. When Carlos played the final in Turin, the last match of the season, it seemed like we were sure to continue working together. Then what happened happened."
Ferrero planned preparations for the next season, and then there was a split.
"I did it with Samuel Lopes who will now continue the collaboration with Carlos. He is up to date with everything so he doesn't have a big job ahead of him because everything is already organized. I was supposed to go to Australia, but now there's nothing to it. This is not easy, everything changed in an instant."
Alcaraz is still without a trophy at the Australian Open.
"It's clear that this unexpected situation is complicated for both of us. I believe that Carlos can overcome it tennis-wise, that he can play at a very high level in Melbourne. Lopes knows him very well, we've worked with him for a long time."
Ferrero emphasizes that he did his best to make Alkaras the best in the world.
"I put my soul into this project. I invested maximum time, a lot of will, a lot of work and in the end I am very grateful for what I have achieved. When we started he was 15 years old, I saw how good he was, how much potential he had, but you never know how far he can go. That's why the maximum has to be invested and my conscience is clear. I am not closing the door, after everything we have achieved, that would not be logical. I am not sure when I will work again, but I do not believe that I will be able to coach someone as young as Carlos was at 15 again. It will probably be an already established player," said Ferrero, who did not take the break from cooperation with Alcaraz well.
"One day we might be able to play golf, but right now it takes time to accept all this. It's not that easy. It hurts a lot," Ferrero said.
When asked by "Marca" if he would work with Janiko Siner, Ferrero replied:
"I would have to think about it. They are both incredible players, but this is not the moment to think about something like that and say yes or no. Now is the moment to overcome this difficult stage, because I am still only thinking about Carlos and it is not the time to think about others," concluded Ferrero.
Bonus video:
