My dear Moxie and Kieran,
I have to disagree with you both, regarding Rafa being 'too intense' to coach Alacaraz.
Yes Rafa is intense, but he would bring a lot of wisdom, tactical advice, strong values, also his focus always being one of his strong points. Rafa at this point in time has no intentions of coaching, personally down the track I could see him as DC Captain for Spain. I feel Alcaraz still needs a more 'structured coach' JCF was strict and probably old school in many ways, Alcaraz really 'evolved' under his guidance from a teenager to a young man and a outstanding player.
Further reading into the split, no it wasnt a money matter with the new contract, there were new inclusions that JCF could not comply with, though he never stated them.I think we will never know quite frankly.
At present Samuel Lopez will be Alcaraz coach until they find a replacement for JCF.
To be fair to Moxie and Kieran, I was the one who first dropped that doozy - and I was basing it on Gross and/or Roddick's comments.
I think Rafa would be great for him
if that is the kind of coaching Carlos wants, and I don't think it is -- otherwise he'd stick with Ferrero. The only way he'd bring in someone like Rafa (if Rafa was willing) is if he tried his way and it failed substantially. Meaning, if he had a 2026 in which Sinner had the clear edge. I don't think that will happen, at least not enough to really make Carlos rethink letting Ferrero go. But he's going to want to try his way first before bring in another Rafa/Ferrero type.
The concern I have for Carlos, or at least a hypothetical nightmare scenario, is that without Ferrero or a coach pushing him hard, he loses a bit of that edge and struggles to maintain his focus, but gets by enough on his natural ability to still bring in several Slams over the next couple years. Now let's say its the end of 2027 and Carlos looks back and sees that while he's still in the Big Two, he's now the clear #2, and he starts having second thoughts about letting Ferrero go. So he rehires Ferrero or someone like him. Now its 2028 and he's 25...still young enough to be in prime form, but now Fonseca is in his prime and several other young guys are pushing at the elite.
It is a brutal sport - you can blink once, but not twice. You have to keep evolving, keep working. And you need that competitive fire to keep burning. Part of Carlos's charm is a quality that he plays in an almost child-like way - like its fun and while I do think he wants to win, I don't know if it burns him up if he doesn't. I am completely making this up, but I could see many conversations between him and JCF going something like:
JCF: If you want to keep pace with Sinner, you need to hold off on that Ibiza trip and do X, Y, Z.
CAG: JCF, Chill. Things are great - I just beat Jannik at the USO. I've got this, bro.
JCF: But you need to work on X, Y, Z - you have to keep pushing, keep working.
CAG: OK, but let me go for a quick dip - and then I've got some ladies to see. Tomorrow, ok?
JCF: (Throws hands up and walks away)
Alright, that might be a bit much...but I think there might be some element of that.
That said, he is just 22. Maybe as he matures mentally he'll hone his focus and drive. Maybe the rivalry with Sinner will help him keep that edge, like it did for the Big Three. I really don't know. I just think he's more of a wildcard, in terms of where his career might go over the next five years, than Jannik is. In five years, Jannik might have lost a step physically, but I think he'll still be focused and will have adapted his game as much as possible. I think the same could be true with Carlos, just that there's a wider range of outcomes - and a greater chance of him losing focus/drive.
