ATP Tour
Alcaraz & Ferrero: Inside their seven-year journey
The 22-year-old won 24 tour-level titles under Ferrero’s guidance
December 17, 2025
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon this year.
By Grant Thompson
Carlos Alcaraz was 14 years old when Juan Carlos Ferrero first watched him play. Drawn by whispers of a special talent emerging close to his tennis academy in southeast Spain, the former World No. 1 caught his first glimpse of Alcaraz competing in a tournament.
That moment was the genesis of a successful partnership that officially began in 2018 and, after seven years, Alcaraz and Ferrero announced on Wednesday has come to an end.
Their success was intertwined. Where there was Alcaraz, there was Ferrero. They were synonymous throughout Alcaraz’s meteoric rise onto the Tour and to where he is today, having just finished the season with ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours.
“He means a lot to me,” Alcaraz said of Ferrero last year. “Obviously it’s a great support when I have him in the box. His support is really special to me. We started when I was playing in juniors, he did Grade 4 [tournaments] travelling with me.”
Under Ferrero’s leadership, Alcaraz claimed 24 tour-level titles, including six majors. The Spaniard won his first major crown in 2022 at the US Open and with that victory, the then-19-year-old became the youngest World No. 1 in PIF ATP Rankings history.
“It’s a surprise to everyone, except to me,” Ferrero said at the time. “Because I train with him every day and I know what he can do.”
Alcaraz and Ferrero’s bond was never defined solely by trophies. Their connection ran deeper, revealed most clearly in moments like in Miami in 2022 when Alcaraz was preparing for his first ATP Masters 1000 final.
Ferrero had not been at the hard-court tournament because his father, Eduardo, passed away. But Ferrero flew to Florida for the final. When Alcaraz saw his coach, he leaped off the couch and gave Ferrero a warm embrace. Hours later, Alcaraz lifted the trophy and became the youngest champion in tournament history.
“Juan Carlos is a very important person for me,” Alcaraz said after that Miami victory. “On the professional side, on the personal side, he helps me a lot on both sides. When we are together, we will talk about everything in life, everything in our sport, about football, as well.
“I consider him a coach and a friend as well. So I can talk to him about everything.”
At Wimbledon in 2023, Ferrero’s eyes welled with tears as he hugged Alcaraz, moments after the Spaniard captured his first grass-court major. Alcaraz successfully defended his All England crown in 2024 to complete the rare Roland Garros–Wimbledon double that season.
Alcaraz and Ferrero embrace after the 2023 Wimbledon final. Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Alcaraz and Ferrero’s partnership was filled with success. This year, Alcaraz captured a career-best eight tour-level titles and a season-leading 71 match wins, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
One of Alcaraz’s most dramatic victories came in the Roland Garros final, during which he rallied from two-sets-to-love down and saved three championship points to escape great rival Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz climbed into his courtside coaches’ box and shared a raw-emotion celebration with Ferrero, who lifted the 22-year-old in the air, and together they let out an emphatic roar of, ‘Vamos!”
“Of course I think he [was] born to play these kinds of moments,” Ferrero said after Alcaraz’s epic five-hour, 29-minute triumph.
While a player-coach relationship involves a variety of advice, for Alcaraz and Ferrero, sometimes it was simple. When asked about his mid-match communication with Ferrero last year, Alcaraz shared the one word he hears the most — and it may surprise you.
“I can tell you one of the things he tells me most is, ‘Smile’,” Alcaraz revealed.
Undoubtedly, Alcaraz and Ferrero can look back on their seven-year partnership and smile.
Alcaraz celebrates his title run at the 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF with Ferrero. Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour
