Former Italian tennis player Claudio Pistolesi offered an interesting take on World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz’s family following the December 2025 split with former coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. Pistolesi gave an exclusive interview to Fanpage.it, which covered multiple questions about the recently concluded Australian Open.
Pistolesi wasn’t a famed player during his playing days, but he is widely recognized for coaching top names like Monica Seles and the Swedish giant slayer Robin Soderling. Drawing on his coaching expertise and rich experience in the sport, Pistolesi explained Alcaraz’s family situation with Ferrero by drawing an analogy with what transpired between Naomi Osaka and her then-coach, Sascha Bajin.
“I don’t quite understand, but it seems true that the father also interfered. Osaka and Sascha Bajin, the coach with whom she won three Grand Slams, come to mind. Then her parents were very annoyed; she gave an interview and was almost secretly accused of wanting to take credit. Parents, in fact, want the credit to go only to their children, because they’re the ones who go on court,” Pistolesi said.
“But that’s not the case, because perhaps without Ferrero, those results wouldn’t have happened. It’s a team effort, a collective effort; otherwise, the coach wouldn’t exist. I think a good part of the credit, when they’re very young, goes to the coach. It happened to me too with Bolelli,” he added.
Pistolesi Believes Juan Carlos Ferrero Deserves Credit for Carlos Alcaraz’s Titles
Furthermore, in the interview, Pistolesi was asked whether he thought Ferrero deserved some credit for Alcaraz’s title, since the World No. 1 reigns supreme under Samuel Lopez, whom Ferrero mentored since 2024, when he joined the Alcaraz camp as the assistant coach.
“When someone wins, there’s a hunt for merit, right? They become possessive. From the outside, I can’t swear to it because I’m not inside, but it seemed to me that there was a bit of this between Alcaraz and his father and Ferrero. Also, because Ferrero had been world number one, he had a lot of visibility,” Pistolesi said.
“In any case, it’s significant that he left Ferrero but stayed with Samuel López, whom Ferrero had brought in. So he remained with a team and a very similar style to before. And he probably took a lot from Ferrero. Now he’s been giving Samuel López a crazy amount of praise,” he added.
“It almost seemed to me like against Ferrero, with the other guy, it didn’t end very well. In any case, no one can take away from JuanKi six Slams as a coach, won with almost a kid: two Wimbledons, two US Opens, Roland Garros,” Pistolesi concluded.
For now, Alcaraz and Lopez have started their tie-up on a grand note as the 22-year-old completed a career Grand Slam by winning the title in Melbourne. Alcaraz will resume play on the ATP circuit at the Doha Open (ATP 500) on February 16, followed by Indian Wells (Masters 1000) on March 2.
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