Carlos Alcaraz’s first-ever tennis coach believes Rafael Nadal would be a “sensation” as the world No 1’s coach, despite admitting that it was an unlikely turn of events.
Reigning world No 1 Alcaraz announced a sudden and shocking split from Juan Carlos Ferrero, his coach of seven years, last week, ending one of the most successful player-coach relationships of modern times.
The news quickly emerged as one of the biggest tennis stories of the year and has attracted a huge amount of attention, with speculation rife as to why Alcaraz and Ferrero parted ways so unexpectedly — after a partnership that saw the former win six Grand Slam singles titles.
Among those speaking out about the split was Carlos Santos, who coached Alcaraz from the ages of five to 12 before his own parting of ways with the tennis star.
Currently, it appears that Samuel Lopez, who joined Alcaraz’s team at the start of 2025, will be the 22-year-old’s lead coach at the start of 2026, though rumours persist that a new permanent head coach will be hired in the future.
One name brought up by many as a potential coach is Rafael Nadal, though the thought of the 22-time Grand Slam champion coaching Alcaraz is perhaps a fanciful one.
And Santos also believes that to be the case, though, in an interview with Eurosport Spain, he claimed that Nadal would be hugely beneficial for Alcaraz in many ways.
He said (translated from Spanish): “Well, we have many retired players who could contribute a lot to Carlos, but it’s going to be impossible. For example, David Ferrer could be a good coach, given his hard work and dedication.
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“And we’re not even talking about players like Rafa Nadal, who would be a sensation as Carlos’s coach. Because of his upbringing, his values, his poise, his humility. All of which would be very beneficial for Carlos and those around him.
“But the incoming coach needs to be familiar with the team and understand that Carlitos’ team is huge. He has to accept all of that.
“It’s not just Carlitos; there are a lot of people on the team who are there for him. And whether they’re more or less qualified, they’re there, and he has to accept that.”
All eyes will now be on how well-prepared Alcaraz is for the Australian Open, the opening Grand Slam tournament of 2026.
The Spaniard will play an exhibition match against Jannik Sinner in South Korea in early January, but, similar to his approach in recent years, he will not play an official tour-level event in 2026 before action in Melbourne.
Action at the Australian Open will begin on January 18, and it is one of the key events — if not the key event — of Alcaraz’s season, with the star looking to complete the Career Grand Slam.
Alcaraz is a two-time French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open champion, though he has never made it past the quarter-final stage at Melbourne Park.
Should the world No 1 triumph at the event, he would become just the sixth man in the Open Era to have won all four major titles in singles.
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