Carlos Alcaraz is only 22 years old, and he has had the same coach since he was 15. No longer. This week, Alcaraz announced on social media that he had split with longtime coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. The coach appeared as surprised as tennis fans were about the situation.
Elite tennis reporter Jon Wertheim was a guest recently on Andy Roddick's podcast and spoke about what he had heard about Alcaraz terminating Ferrero. Per Wertheim, the issue appears to stem from off-court problems. More specifically, the money the player could make when he wasn't winning tournaments.
Wertheim said on Served with Andy Roddick, "You could tell from (messages between coach and player) that they were not perfectly aligned. We are not throwing mud here, but it doesn’t sound like they were completely on the same page. What I am hearing from well-informed sources is that there was a bit of friction about how much to take advantage of the commercial opportunities."
Jon Wertheim implies off-court issues caused the split between Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero
In other words, Carlos Alcaraz wanted to get paid a lot from sponsorships, and maybe Juan Carlos Ferrero wasn't totally on board with the money or the sponsor. The problem isn't that easy to solve, however.
Alcaraz wants to get paid as much as he can while he is living his best life as a player. He likely won't be playing past 35 years old or so, so he basically has to make as much as possible in a short amount of time. He will make more post-career from sponsors too, but nothing like he does as a player when he is selling the sponsors' wares while playing.
The player has every right to make financial decisions that will make him rich now and keep him rich for the rest of his life. That is why he plays a professional sport, after all.
If Ferrero was pushing back against some commercial business that wanted to pay Alcaraz, he likely has a reason. Fans have no idea who those sponsors might have been, if that was the issue at all.
Ultimately, though, Carlos Alcaraz could potentially affect his personal income if he lets Juan Carlos Ferrero go, and the player doesn't win as many tournaments as he did. The player and coach reached a high level of success. Now, the player goes it relatively alone.