Juan Carlos Ferrero is a notable absentee at this year’s Australian Open and now he has confirmed he is taking his coaching career in a very different direction.
Ferrero admitted he didn’t want his highly successful partnership with world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz to come to an end, but a contract dispute saw the former French Open winner end his highly successful working relationship with the current Roland Garros champion.
There was a widespread expectation that Ferroro would make a return to tennis and several top players are believed to have contacted him to see if he is ready to make a swift comeback.
Yet now Ferrero has confirmed he is making a sporting return in a role that few saw coming, after revealing he will be working with young Spanish golfer Angel Ayora.
“Excited to announce a new professional collaboration for 2026,” wrote Ferrero on the Instagram page.
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“I’ll be working alongside Angel Ayora, a young golfer with great potential, his coach @coachjuanochoa and his management team.
“We’ll be working together on the mental side of performance and professional development.
“Tennis is my life, and I’ll continue giving my all at the Academy and on the circuit. However, golf also excites me—it’s an individual sport where the mental aspect plays a crucial role.
“I’m delighted to be able to contribute my experience and support Ángel’s growth on the circuit.
“We’ve already started, highly motivated and looking forward to continuing this journey.”
This move appears to be a consultancy role rather than a full time posiiton, with Ferrero’s confirmation that his passion for tennis remains undimmed, suggesting a coaching return is likely sooner rather than later.
Tennis365 spoke to former world No 2 Alex Corretja prior to the Australian Open and the TNT Sports expert gave us his verdict on what comes next for Ferrero.
“I think he loves tennis, he is a hard worker, someone who knows the game,” said Corretja, as he spoke about Ferrero’s future in an exclusive interview with Tennis365.
“He is someone who knows the game and thinks he needs a little bit of time to find someone that he really feels is worth it for him to leave home and go away again.
“I don’t think he is going to get the same commitment as he had with Carlos because he was almost like a father to him.
“They started seven years ago, so it was a very intense period for him. He needs a bit of time, but players will be calling him and for sure, they have already been calling him. I think will be back at some point.”
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