Coaching carousel continues: Grigor Dimitrov, Daniel Vallverdu split for second time

With every tennis off-season, it’s only natural to see players shake up their teams ahead of the New Year. Call it the coaching carousel.

Wednesday brought the biggest bombshell of all when Carlos Alcaraz announced he and long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero had parted ways. Ferrero and Samuel Lopez—set to lead Team Alcaraz in the interim—shared 2025 ATP Coach of the Year honors after their charge earned his second year-end No. 1 finish and upped his major title tally to six at the age of 22.

Read More: Carlos Alcaraz moved up with Juan Carlos Ferrero—now, he moves on without him

It emerged Thursday that another familiar duo had ended its collaboration, for a second time. Updating followers on his Instagram story, Grigor Dimitrov thanked Daniel Vallverdu for, “believing in me and pushing me to be my best. You’ll always be a part of my story.”

The two initially joined forces from July 2016 through May 2019, before reuniting at the end of the 2022 season. Vallverdu worked with three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka in-between the pair of stints with Dimitrov.

The Bulgarian climbed back inside the Top 10 with Vallverdu at the helm during an encouraging 2024 comeback season, but played just one tournament after sustaining a gut-wrenching shoulder injury at Wimbledon this year. Dimitrov won his singles return at the Rolex Paris Masters, before opting to shut down his 2025 campaign for good.

As seen at this week's Next Gen ATP Finals, Gilles Cervara has found a new home following his departure from Daniil Medvedev's camp in August. Cervara is now guiding American Nishesh Basavareddy, a former standout at Stanford University.

🖥️📲 Stream the Next Gen ATP Finals on the Tennis Channel App!

Earlier this month, two-time Grand Slam singles finalist Jasmine Paolini revealed that her Paris Olympics gold medal winning partner Sara Errani was officially coming on board as a team member for the 2026 season. The 29-year-old shared on the Italian talk-show Che Tempo Che Fa that, “I’ll have two people. Danilo Pizzorno will be my coach, and she (Errani) will take care of the tactics, because she’s on another level.”

Paolini qualified for singles and doubles at the WTA Finals for the second year running, highlighted by sweeping the hardware on home soil at Rome’s Internazionali BNL d'Italia. She and Errani were crowned ITF World Champions once again Wednesday, thanks largely to their Roland Garros and Billie Jean King Cup triumphs.

Lois Boisson, who produced one of 2025’s most memorable Cinderella runs when she made the semifinals of her home major in Paris as a wild card entrant, will continue with Carlos Martinez following a successful trial run during the Asian swing. The WTA's French No. 1 is scheduled to make her United Cup debut in January alongside Arthur Rinderknech.