Carlos Alcaraz is set to end speculation over his new head coach with a top Spanish journalist confirming that he has made his “final decision” in terms of his main mentor for the 2026 season.
The reigning world No 1 dropped a bombshell this week when he announced that he had parted ways with Juan Carlos Ferrero following seven successful years that yielded 24 singles titles – including six Grand Slams – two year-end No 1 rankings and multiple individual awards.
In public, all appeared well between Alcaraz and Ferrero, but several reports have emerged about tension between the player’s father, Carlos Alcaraz Senior, and the 2003 Grand Slam winner in recent months with the final straw coming after Ferrero was asked to sign a new contract just 48 hours after he received an offer.
When Ferrero’s counter-offer was rejected, the parties decided to go their separate ways and the Alcaraz camp immediately indicated that Samuel Lopez, who hails from the Ferrero Tennis Academy and only joined the coaching team at the start of this year, would be promoted to head coach.
However, there had been suggestions Lopez would only take over temporarily until Alcaraz’s management team could find a new mentor to take over permanently.
Unsurprisingly, several coaches have indicated that they would be interested in mentoring one of the biggest names in tennis with Angel Garcia telling El Partidazo de COPE that “five to six coaches have offered to manage Carlos Alcaraz” with no specific individuals mentioned.
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But the six-time Grand Slam winner has decided that “barring any unforeseen circumstances, Samuel Lopez will replace Juan Carlos Ferrero” and the interested coaches “have been told no because they [Alcaraz’s team] want to maintain the current situation”.
Of course, the player’s team could still opt to add a second coach to make Lopez’s load a bit lighter and Alcaraz’s former mentor Kiko Navarro has suggested they could turn to a “big name”.
“I think a second person will be needed because the season is very long and involves a lot of travel,” he told RNE Deportes.
“And perhaps that second person is more well-known than Samu, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be the head coach. I would bet, without having spoken to his father yet, that the head coach will be Samu Lopez.”
Alcaraz has already kicked off his pre-season alongside Flavio Cobolli at the Ferrero Academy and for now, according to Garcia, the player will work with the same team that helped him last year with the exception of Ferrero.
The 22-year-old’s first match of the 2026 season will be an exhibition with Jannik Sinner in South Korea while his first official tournament will be the Australian Open.
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