THE "NETFLIX" WARNING: DID CARLOS ALCARAZ’S DOCUMENTARY PREDICT THE SPLIT WITH FERRERO MONTHS AGO
No more "Juanki." Carlos Alcaraz splits with long-time mentor Ferrero. Discover the reasons behind the biggest tennis story of 2025.
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The tennis world's buzzing about it: Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero are splitting up. A lot of people didn't see that coming.
The reaction to the world No. 1's announcement that he and Ferrero, his coach for seven years, were parting ways has been huge, making this one of the biggest tennis stories of the year.
Since Wednesday's announcement, everyone's been wondering what caused the split. The rumours are flying, and they probably won't stop anytime soon, since neither Alcaraz nor Ferrero has said anything beyond their initial statements.
But now, some people are looking back at Alcaraz's Netflix documentary, Carlos Alcaraz: My Way, saying it showed early signs of tension between the two.
So, let's look at what the documentary showed and how Alcaraz and Ferrero reacted back then.
What was in the documentary?
Carlos Alcaraz: My Way was basically a standard look at Alcaraz's life, from tennis whiz kid to one of the best players around.
Not much new stuff came out. Everyone already knew how close Alcaraz is to his family and how badly he wants to be one of the all-time greats—those were big themes in the documentary.
But one thing that did pop up, and surprised some people, was a conversation between Alcaraz and Ferrero about how much time Alcaraz spends away from the court.
The 22-year-old's vacations and trips to Ibiza have gotten a lot of attention. In the documentary, Ferrero and Alcaraz's agent, Albert Molina, seemed worried that too much time off could be a distraction.
There was also a direct conversation between Alcaraz and Ferrero, who used to be world No. 1 himself, about where Alcaraz’s career was going. It showed how hard it is for Alcaraz to balance the demands of being a top athlete with wanting to enjoy life as a young guy.
How did Alcaraz react?
The documentary got people talking mostly about Alcaraz's work-life balance, that conversation with Ferrero, and how much time players should take off to rest.
Alcaraz didn't say anything publicly about the reaction to the conversation between him and Ferrero for a few weeks. He had to pull out of the Madrid Open because of an injury.
But when he came back at the Italian Open two weeks later, he was quick to shut down any talk of tension between him and Ferrero.
I'm not going to say 'a fight,' but the conversation we have, coach and player, we all have, Alcaraz said, according to sources.
We all have those conversations about everything: the tournaments, the practices, and the things I want to do that maybe I shouldn't.
Anyone who says they don't have those conversations is lying. That's the good thing, having different feelings and different points of view. In the end, we're all on the same path. We're all together.
That's great too. That's what I saw in the documentary.
How did Ferrero react?
Ferrero did a lot of interviews while he was Alcaraz's coach, and he also talked about the documentary.
El Larguero asked the former French Open champ about the reaction to the documentary and how people felt about the discussions about Alcaraz's training.
According to Punto de Break, Ferrero was quick to defend Alcaraz, making it clear that he didn't have big problems with Alcaraz's commitment.
He said, Now everyone's talking about it. Once the documentary came out, we knew there would be negative comments, especially if he lost. If he had lost in Paris, people would have said he should have gone to Ibiza.
Even though the documentary talks about his way, Carlos' way is really about training. We don't train a ton. I'd rather have two hours of really good practice than four hours with a bad attitude.
I used to train a lot more, but the demands of the tour mean we have to focus on quality and making training count. Whenever we've asked Carlos to work, he's done it.
INSIDE THE "KILLER INSTINCT" DEBATE: WHAT JIMMY CONNORS REALLY MEANT ABOUT ARYNA SABALENKA
Jimmy Connors criticizes Aryna Sabalenka for lacking "killer instinct" after she blew a 3-0 lead against Elena Rybakina in Melbourne.
Jimmy Connors didn’t hold back about Aryna Sabalenka’s performance in the Australian Open final—he thinks she just didn’t have that killer instinct when it mattered.
For about a set and a half, Sabalenka had a rough time trying to break Elena Rybakina’s serve. She finally did it in the tenth game of the second set, forced a third set, and quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead. She even got within two points of going up 4-0. But after that, things completely unravelled. Sabalenka lost the next five games, suddenly trailing 3-5. She managed to hold serve one more time, but Rybakina kept her cool and closed it out, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Connors, who’s racked up eight Grand Slam titles himself, didn’t mince words. He said Sabalenka should never have let it slip away.
“Sabalenka—she was up 3-0 in the third, right? I might get a little heat for this, but you need that killer instinct,” Connors said on his podcast. “When you’re in a final, and you’ve got someone on the ropes, you have to stay on top, keep the pressure on, cut down on mistakes, and make your opponent fight for every single point. Don’t hand anything over.”
He pointed out Sabalenka’s history of tough losses, saying, “She’s had some bad luck in finals, and maybe there were a few she should’ve won. But when you’re up 3-0 in the third set of a major, you have to finish the job. She’s way too good not to.”
This latest loss marks Sabalenka’s third Grand Slam final defeat in the past year—she fell short in last year’s Australian Open and French Open finals, though she did win the US Open. That puts her at 4-4 in Grand Slam finals.
On the flip side, Rybakina adds the Australian Open title to her resume. With Wimbledon already under her belt, she now owns two Grand Slam trophies.
WHAT DID JANNIK SINNER MEAN BY "IT DOESN'T MATTER" WHEN LOOKING AT THE SCOREBOARD?
Despite hitting 70 winners and winning more points, Jannik Sinner falls to the resilience of Novak Djokovic in 5 sets.
At 38, he pulled off something wild—coming back from a set down not once, but twice. Four hours and nine minutes later, he left the favourite stunned. World No. 2 looked set to face Carlos Alcaraz in the final, but that dream just vanished.
Sinner actually won 12 more points than Djokovic. He just didn’t make them count. Eighteen break points came his way, but he only converted two. That hurt. The 24-year-old walked off the court knowing he’d outscored the legend, but on the scoreboard, it meant nothing.
Jannik led in almost every stat, even smashing over 70 winners. But when it mattered most, especially in the fifth set with eight break points, he couldn’t pull away. The favourite started strong, taking the first set 6-3.
Novak wasn’t going anywhere, though. He broke in the fourth game of the second set, then dug in to save break points in the fifth and seventh, grabbing the set 6-3 to even things up.
In the third, Sinner fended off a break point in game five, then pounced late to break at 5-4. Two sets to one—he was nearly there.
Djokovic just kept pushing. He broke right away in the fourth set, fought off break points at 4-4, and held his nerve to take it and force a decider.
Then, the old master really dug in. Novak saved five break points early in the fifth. Jannik, up 40-15 in the seventh game, blinked and got broken. That was the turning point.
Novak found himself down 40-0 in the next game but rattled off five points in a row to keep control. Serving at 5-4, he held steady and closed it out. That’s his 11th Australian Open final.
“I was holding serve a bit easier than Novak—he really had to fight and face all those break points. I know I won more points, but honestly, that doesn’t matter when you look at the scoreboard,” Jannik Sinner said.