Carlos Firing Ferrero

[jimlosaltos]

Re: Alcaraz firing Ferrero, past is present? Great piece by Bill Simons from 2023 on how Carlos' game was nurtured, perhaps defined, by his original coach Carlos "Kiko" Navarro, who was dumped for a name coach in Ferrero. What goes around comes around?

https://www.insidetennis.com/2023/06...ne-mans-hopes/ via @InsideTennis

And here's ESPN on current separation: https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/...carlos-ferrero

Ferrero, aka "The Mosquito" when he was world numero uno, was reportedly presented with a new contract and given only 24 hours to sign. He wouldn't. Disagreement wasn't over money but some "tennis issues". Supposedly friction between the two was seen in their Netflix reality show. In particular, Alcaraz was concerned about playing in this year's French Open because of pain in his forearm. He felt pressured to play when reassured it wouldn't cause long-time damage. And he won, in one of the most dramatic matches in tennis history. No good deed goes unpunished?

[don_budge]

Huge nothing burger. Coaches come and go. Modern coaches are way overrated and this is validated by how easily they are replaced. Glorified baby sitters in some respects. Very few players in the Classic Era traveled with coaches full time. The game was way more complicated as well. Tomorrow it is business as usual for both parties. They will pick up right where they left off. Both knew it was coming. Ensuing drama for media benefit only.

I really don't like Alcarez at all. Not one little bit. I don't detest him in the same way I detested his fellow country man. But his never ending attention getting behavior with his hand to his ear when he hits a routine winner is beyond annoying. The blond dye job and the sleeveless shirts are amateurish. He imagines himself to be some kind of free thinker no doubt. He strikes me as being rather stupid. I read that he has an exhibition match scheduled somewhere with Sinner. Just what the tennis world needs to validate the absolute pits of the world level of the pro game now. Another match between these two boring, monotonous drones.

[jimlosaltos]

Huge nothing burger. Coaches come and go. Modern coaches are way overrated and this is validated by how easily they are replaced. Glorified baby sitters in some respects. Very few players in the Classic Era traveled with coaches full time. The game was way more complicated as well. Tomorrow it is business as usual for both parties. They will pick up right where they left off. Both knew it was coming. Ensuing drama for media benefit only.

I really don't like Alcarez at all. Not one little bit. I don't detest him in the same way I detested his fellow country man. But his never ending attention getting behavior with his hand to his ear when he hits a routine winner is beyond annoying. The blond dye job and the sleeveless shirts are amateurish. He imagines himself to be some kind of free thinker no doubt. He strikes me as being rather stupid. I read that he has an exhibition match scheduled somewhere with Sinner. Just what the tennis world needs to validate the absolute pits of the world level of the pro game now. Another match between these two boring, monotonous drones.

You've got some points, the sleeveless shirts, the hair ... BUT he is following his idol on that one

Fed, Orange Bowl at 17 yo, 1998 I believe. This guy used to throw X-Boxes at the hotel wall. He grew up OK I'd say. Maybe we give Carlos some time. Just sayin'

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[stotty]

I have to say, I didn’t see it coming. The mood in the camp always seemed pretty good…a bunch of non-stop chatterboxes the lot of ‘em. The results have been stellar, so why part company? Do we know what the offending clause was? Were there cracks in the relationship of other sorts? Most coach/player splits seem to be over the direction of travel of the player's game. It’s hard to imagine how Carlos’s career could have gone better thus far so it’s rather puzzling.

[tennisskip1515]

I am as far away from the heart of this as everyone else on this thread (as far as I can tell), but will nonetheless add my 2 cents:

From all the reporting my take is that the break was a result of a number of differing opinions on a couple different topics. Money seems to have been one. Another was whether Alcaraz would continue to train at Ferrero's center or at the one he's established. Thirdly, and this is entirely my own and a seat-of-the-pants , intuition-type call: the Alcaraz camp, as defined as his family, agent, and agent's team, were interested in his playing the exos he has on tap for this off-season (sic). Ferrero was not onboard with that, the difference being....wait for it...wait...money versus down time and training time. Ferrero is a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of guy, Alcaraz's temperament is not that and as an adolescent who's attained adulthood (metaphor, plus) the conflicting views meant he was likely to leave the farm for the big city. Which he did.

Of course, I could be wrong.

[don_budge]

Walk Away...The James Gang (1971)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UVOvTcJKH4

I am as far away from the heart of this as everyone else on this thread (as far as I can tell), but will nonetheless add my 2 cents:

From all the reporting my take is that the break was a result of a number of differing opinions on a couple different topics. Money seems to have been one. Another was whether Alcaraz would continue to train at Ferrero's center or at the one he's established. Thirdly, and this is entirely my own and a seat-of-the-pants , intuition-type call: the Alcaraz camp, as defined as his family, agent, and agent's team, were interested in his playing the exos he has on tap for this off-season (sic). Ferrero was not onboard with that, the difference being....wait for it...wait...money versus down time and training time. Ferrero is a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of guy, Alcaraz's temperament is not that and as an adolescent who's attained adulthood (metaphor, plus) the conflicting views meant he was likely to leave the farm for the big city. Which he did.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Yada...yada...yada. Bla...bla...bla. Not directed at you tennisskp1515. That's my take on the video. Let's face it...what is it that transpires between player and coach? It's a relationship. What is the most often cited reason in divorce and marital breakdowns? Irreconcilable differences. It's as simple as that. Who cares? What drama! It's like the National Enquirer. He said...she said. I always find it rather interesting how these splits happen and the behest of players and they just do a one-eighty and walk away. It's a relationship and like so many...it has run its course.

Interestingly...my take is one that finds a common thread in many facets of life. When I ask the student...what is power? It's a deep question and one that deserves vast amounts of reflection. This is not some flippant query. This is serious philosophical stuff! Control is power. The relationship between player and coach and teacher in student sometimes devolves into a struggle of control. Like marriages for that matter. This looks like a simple matter...a struggle for control. Guess who lost? That one that didn't have ultimate control of the situation...the coach.

In the video, which is not to be taken too seriously, Juan Carlos is sort of leaking about the control issues. Be it money. Be it scheduling. The rest of the tears. He didn't have the control. Alcarez does. That being said...I think that Ferrero has lightened his load. Although Alcarez is at the top of the modern game he appears to be rather flaky to me. We'll see how it evolves going forwards. By the way...I couldn't care less. I have zero invested in the superficial modern game. It is all about the money. Sports in general have devolved to this.

I had a player/friend do this one-eighty on me once upon a time. I didn't waste a single second with any sort of regrets. The break-ups with the girlfriends were much more perplexing to me. It was really tough to process a few of those. Now comes the process of letting go. The best advice here is to let go immediately. The one to let go first...gains control. Walk away, Ferrero. Give little Carlitos something to think about. He surely isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. There are many potential pitfalls out there that his old reliable would understand how to navigate. The new blood has a lot of pressure on him. That pressure might just boomerang on little Carlitos. Anything can happen. Think about it...and besides, who cares?

[stroke]

I am as far away from the heart of this as everyone else on this thread (as far as I can tell), but will nonetheless add my 2 cents:

From all the reporting my take is that the break was a result of a number of differing opinions on a couple different topics. Money seems to have been one. Another was whether Alcaraz would continue to train at Ferrero's center or at the one he's established. Thirdly, and this is entirely my own and a seat-of-the-pants , intuition-type call: the Alcaraz camp, as defined as his family, agent, and agent's team, were interested in his playing the exos he has on tap for this off-season (sic). Ferrero was not onboard with that, the difference being....wait for it...wait...money versus down time and training time. Ferrero is a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of guy, Alcaraz's temperament is not that and as an adolescent who's attained adulthood (metaphor, plus) the conflicting views meant he was likely to leave the farm for the big city. Which he did.

Of course, I could be wrong.

I think you are on to some things here. Money is always the number 1 thing, and the money these guys make, at least the ones towards the top, just keeps getting bigger. And Ferrero did not appear to be the kind of coach with Carlos that was a Darren Cahill type, he seemed closer to a Apostolas Tsitsipas type, at least from a kinda high strung very hands on way. And as pointed out, Carlos not the young kid anymore, he is one of the 2 best players in the world now in his 20's. A lot of moving parts here, but like Stotty, I was still a bit surprised about this split. But the Spanish guys certainly have a lot of options available as coaches.

[stroke]

Woodbridge on the Alcaraz-Ferrero split: "It will be difficult for him to win a Grand Slam in 2026" https://en.tennistemple.com/r/news_aubE

[jimlosaltos]

Woodbridge on the Alcaraz-Ferrero split: "It will be difficult for him to win a Grand Slam in 2026" https://en.tennistemple.com/r/news_aubE

That's quite a statement. And I like many of Woodbridge's takes. A friend who has a penchant for being concise and blunt said of the early relationship between Alcaraz and Ferrero that it was "a codependency", Ouch. But this year, I believe Carlos won several of his titles without Ferrero in his box. { Sources vary between 5 and 6) Now, none was a slam. But, clearly Carlos no longer feels he needs Ferrero to tell him where to stand to return serve on every single point, as he used to.

One publication basically said that Ferrero and Samuel Lopez played good cop, bad cop. Ferrero accused of over-working and scolding while Lopez was the fun guy.

All work and no play? Or no more nose to the grindstone costs him? We'll see.