"I think in life there are chapters, and there comes a time when one chapter has to end" - Alcaraz comments on surprising split with Ferrero

Carlos Alcaraz has spoken on the departure of coach Joan Carlos Ferrero for the first time ahead of his return to the Australian Open.

The six-time Grand Slam champion is looking to tick the final major title off his list, but will have to overturn a barren spell of form in Melbourne, all without his righthand man of so many years.

Alcaraz reiterated that this is his main goal for this year in his press conference ahead of the event. "As I said before, this is my main goal for this year," the Spaniard said. "It’s the first tournament of the season and the main goal. It’s going to be really interesting for me to see how I prepared, and I think I made a really good preseason to be in good shape. I’m really hungry for the title and hungry to get a really good result here. I’m getting ready as much as I can and I’m really excited for the tournament to begin."

It will be the first event that Alcaraz has competed in without the wisdom or coaching of Ferrero. The duo split in the off-season, creating a seismic story with a lot of attention and questions circling it. He will go into the Australian Open with Samuel Lopez overlooking his progress.

For the first time, he has openly discussed his coaching situation. "I just built my team, which is almost the same as last year, except for Juan Carlos," he admitted. "We decided to do it this way, and I have a lot of confidence in the team I have right now. The practice has been really good and I’m feeling well. I’m just excited for the tournament to begin with the team that I have now."

He was not prepared to go too deep into the behind the scenes of the breakup, but unveiled that they are still on good terms. "It’s something we just decided. I think in life there are chapters, and there comes a time when one chapter has to end," he said. "I’m really grateful for the seven years I spent with Juan Carlos. I learned a lot, and probably thanks to him I’m the player I am right now. Internally, we decided together to close this chapter. We’re still friends, we still have a good relationship, but we just decided it was the right moment."

Despite all the drama away from the court, his off-season went swimmingly with Alcaraz looking not to change much on court amid the changes away from it.

"There weren’t any changes at all. I was really focused on the things we needed to do and the things we thought I should improve coming from last season," he admitted. "I have the same team as last year, just one member missing. Everyone else is the same, so we didn’t change the routine. We went through the preseason and into the season in the same way, just with the improvements I really want to make."

His preparation included featuring against Jannik Sinner in the Hyundai Card Super Match in Incheon, South Korea. The match was a chance to get back up to speed against his formidable rival, but also another opportunity to showcase the rise in tennis support in Asia.

"It was really interesting to see. I’ve spoken with players who’ve played in that region for many years, and they’ve told me that people are getting more into tennis year after year, which is great," Alcaraz confirmed. "It was my first time in Korea, and I really felt the love and support. There aren’t many tournaments there, but the way I was received was insane — it was crazy, and I loved it. It’s great for tennis and for me personally to see how important tennis is becoming in those countries."

The 22-year-old was asked an interesting question. He had the choice to win Australian Open or taking home the other three. He could not think of an answer on the spot. "That’s a good one. I don’t know. I don’t know which one I would choose," he acknowledged.

"Obviously, completing the career Grand Slam is something amazing to do. Being the youngest to do it would be even better. But three Grand Slams are three Grand Slams. It’s a question I need to think about — not a quick answer. I’ll come back to you."

He is looking to become the youngest player to achieve a career Grand Slam. However, his recent form Down Under is not great, with him never making it past the quarter-finals, a huge outlier in his mostly spotless Grand Slam showings.

"For me, Australia is one of the tournaments that’s always making improvements every year," he said "Every time I come here, I see changes to make things better and to make players feel more comfortable."

He was very complimentary of Melbourne Park and opened up on his preparations. "The facilities are the biggest for players — the courts, the roofed courts, the practice courts, the recovery areas. Everything is really easy for us here. I love coming every year. The trip is long, but once we’re here, I enjoy it so much. I go to a few peaceful places where I can walk around, stay calm, and spend time with my team. That helps me prepare well for matches."

One thing Alcaraz is very good at his adapting and changing his game for the better. This is one of the reasons why he is so dominant on the court and why him and Sinner have raced away from the chasing pack. His serve is the next thing on his list to tweak, continuing from last year where he worked on it a lot.

It has got a lot of similarity shouts to a certain Novak Djokovic, which Alcaraz was quick to joke about. "You want me to say it’s like Djokovic’s serve? I knew you were going there," he laughed.

"I think everyone has to make small changes, small details. For me, the serve is something I always want to improve every year and every tournament. I’m constantly working on it. During the preseason, we didn’t make any big changes to the serve, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t evolve. I’m always making small adjustments — sometimes every tournament, sometimes every day — without even being told."

It seems to be doing the trick. "With this current movement on the serve, I feel really comfortable, smooth, calm, and peaceful in the rhythm. I think that helps me hit a better serve. Let’s see how it goes this year. You might see another change in a few months or by the end of the year. It’s always about small details."

Finally, he confirmed that he was trying to make it like the 24-time Grand Slam champion's serve. "No, no. I wasn’t thinking about making it the same, but yeah — I can see the similarities."