REVEALED: WHY MARION BARTOLI PREDICTS A DESPERATE CARLOS ALCARAZ-FERRERO REUNION BY JUNE 2026
Carlos Alcaraz splits with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero ahead of 2026. See why Marion Bartoli predicts a messy fallout.
Carlos Alcaraz is heading into a tricky part of his career.
Juan Carlos Ferrero isn't his coach anymore. Marion Bartoli hinted they might team up again soon!
After over seven years, Alcaraz won't have Juan Carlos Ferrero as his main coach. They split before 2026, ending a top-notch player-coach partnership in tennis.
Bartoli says the six-time major champ is entering a time of trying new things and getting used to changes, with people watching closely. She thinks the next six months will be about trial and error, which is new to him.
People will suggest different coaches, each one supposedly better than the last. Tennis fans will wonder who's the best fit to guide this super-talented player who could be the greatest of all time.
Lots of folks would jump at the chance to coach someone as good as Alcaraz. But it's not a given that they'll click, particularly at first.
Coaching a player this good is tough because there's little room for mistakes. Even a small problem can cause big trouble. But it gets even wilder!
Marion thinks Jannik Sinner could put Alcaraz under pressure if he wins the next two majors in Melbourne and Paris. The Italian wants to win his third Australian Open in a row in January.
Plus, he almost beat Alcaraz at this year's French Open final, missing three match points. So, it's possible he could win both titles and tie Carlos at six majors.
If that happens, things would change a lot, and the Spaniard might have to chase a rival who likes things steady. Then, he might go back to what he knows best, like a sure thing when things are tough.
Ferrero means familiarity, trust, and a system that worked, making Alcaraz the second-youngest player to win six major titles. If he came back as coach, it wouldn't mean failure, just being practical.
If the 22-year-old asks his old coach to come back, it would show that some partnerships are too good to ditch for good. Then, money wouldn't matter as much as it did recently.
Right now, Carlos is getting ready for the Australian Open with Samuel Lopez. As 2026 goes on, we'll see if the split was a smart move or just a break before they get back together.
For the next six months, it'll be about trying things out. People will talk about who might take the job.
Of course, coaching a genius like Carlos means you won't get turned down much. If things don't work out with his new coach, and Jannik wins the first two Majors of the year, which could happen, he'll have to call Juan Carlos back right away—that's pretty clear, Marion Bartoli said.
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.