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Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina says he was suddenly dumped by his coach over text and then ghosted by him between matches at the French Open.
The 21st seed claimed his Argentinian coach Mariano Puerta, a former French Open finalist, quit by sending him a long text message following his opening five-set win over Damir Dzumhur and flew to Miami without another word.
Davidovich Fokina was left without a coach for his second-round match defeat against the unseeded Thiago Agustin Tirante, who won in four sets on Wednesday. The Spaniard was left stunned by his coach’s abrupt departure, and claimed Puerta had blocked him and his wife online.
Davidovich Fokina, however, insisted there had not been a falling out following his first-round win against Dzumhur, despite some reports that there had been a heated argument on the practice court following what had been a lengthy five-set match.
Explaining his side of the story at his post-match press conference following his defeat against Tirante on Wednesday, Davidovich Fokina said: “After the match against Dzumhur, we had lunch and after that I went to cool down a little bit.
“He said he was feeling bad, he was going to the hotel. In the afternoon, like two-three hours later, he texted me a message that he will not continue… He didn’t say nothing to anybody to the team, he just took the flight and flew to Miami without saying a word to us.
“I heard he did this a couple of times before with other players, so it seems normal for him. I will not go behind him if he decides to leave and not continue till the end of the tournament. Not my problem, he’s an adult (who) made his own choices.
“The thing is we didn’t fight, everything was normal. In the match, everything was normal. We were very communicative during the match against Dzumhur. I don’t know what to say because it was strange. But nothing can surprise me anymore. I have (seen) a lot of things through my career, so this is another thing.
“I thought that he was a very good person and after that I discovered he did this a couple times before with other players. I was like, ‘Okay, it was my fault to hire him.’”
Puerta, a French Open finalist in 2005 who had previously coached Christian Garin and Brandon Nakashima, posted a picture on his Instagram stories of him sitting on a plane mid-flight. It came with the caption: “There aren’t any coaches, trainers, or physios on the tour with half the guts I have. Back to Miami.”