With the Australian Open just around the corner, two of tennis’s stars on the ATP Tour are making some coaching changes. According to Matthew Johns of The Tennis Gazette, Matteo Berrettini has been seen working closely with Thomas Enqvist of Sweden. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz announced on Wednesday, that he is parting ways with Juan Carlos Ferrero according to Jonathan Jurejko of BBC Sport.
Berrettini is coming off a Davis Cup title in November for Italy. One of his most notable accomplishments was reaching the Wimbledon final in 2021. Just like Berrettini, Enqvist reached one grand slam final and lost. Enqvist made the 1999 Australian Open final before losing 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-6 to Yevgeniy Kafelnikov of Russia. Berrettini’s loss came to Novak Djokovic by a score of 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. In an interesting note, Berrettini and Enqvist both won the first set in their respective grand slam finals before losing the next three sets.
Alcaraz of El Palmar, Spain, is a six-time grand slam champion and is the world number one. It is interesting he made the choice to release Ferrero when he is the best male tennis player in the world at the moment. In the world rankings, Alcaraz has 12050 points, and Italy’s Jannik Sinner is second with 11500 points. It is a little surprising that Alcaraz is ranked first when Sinner won the ATP Finals in Turin right before the Davis Cup.
Ferrero is a former World number one. He has been coaching Alcaraz since 2019. Ferrero won one grand slam singles tournament as a player. He won the 2003 French Open. In the final, Ferrero beat Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.
