|
29 May 2026 | 12.45
Mariano Puerta and Alejandro Davidovich stopped working together after the first round of Roland Garros 2026. They won a match, but this didn't prevent a storm from brewing, which still demands an explanation today.
Alejandro Davidovich's version is known, as he revealed it in a press conference after being eliminated in the second round against Thiago Tirante. The Spaniard accused his coach of leaving without reason and being a bad person, words that quickly reached Mariano Puerta. But what is the Argentine's version? As usual, each story has different nuances depending on the perspective, so the Roland Garros 2005 runner-up wanted to explain his side on Punto de Break, laying out the entire story in detail.
Mariano's transparency is such that he didn't hesitate to show me the message he himself sent to Davidovich a day before leaving Paris. A text of over 50 lines where the Argentinian addresses the Malaga player with extreme honesty, but also with a lot of affection, trust, and experience, outlining possible paths that could help him improve and achieve his goals. It's a text that combines gratitude and respect, but also contains lines of harshness that only someone who truly cares about you and worries about you could write. And of course, there are various reasons why the coach decided to step away from the project. It's time for Puerta to reveal what led him to write that text, what Alejandro's response was, and ultimately, what the truth is behind all this controversy.
Well Mariano, tell me what happened.
I would like to start by saying that I arrived in Paris with my patience tank at its limit. The whole team knew it, and what I'm about to say won't surprise anyone. In fact, I had told more than one person on the team that if some things didn't change, I wouldn't last much longer. After six months with Alex, the reality is that the player still showed no improvement in an area where the whole team, unanimously, had asked him to start working. I'm referring to the mental and emotional department.
Sorry to interrupt. When you say you arrived in Paris with your patience at its limit, what's the reason for that?
Look, Alex is a player who, when on the court, is very intense, very emotional, and often has reactions that may be a bit out of line. Perhaps bordering on disrespect. For example, the second round we had at the Australian Open was a very difficult match in that sense. Those who know him will have seen that, on some occasions, there were even people who left his box. It's not easy to deal with this when it happens constantly, so after almost 20 weeks traveling with him, there came a point where I needed to make a break if I didn't want to end up sick. And mind you, I am a former player, I've been there, but in that regard, I reached a limit that didn't allow me to continue.
Do those behaviors usually stay on the court? We talked a month ago in Madrid and you said that living with Alejandro was magnificent.
I know that Alex is a good guy. We've had an incredible time off the court and on, but these kinds of episodes are mounting up […] I also have character. I used to be good too. It's a heavy issue, not simple, that's why what happened in the first round of Roland Garros affected me so much. That day again there were reactions and attitudes that I didn't like, the whole team is tired of this, that's why we were so insistent on him improving.
Did he say something different to you that day?
Yes, something unpleasant happened in the fourth or fifth set. At a moment in the match when I tried to cheer him on, when I wanted to push him to stay focused, Alex turned around with a face that looked like he was going to kill me: "Don't you see that I'm tired? That I can't move? Don't ever say anything to me again!". He said it to me in a way that I still feel.
What did you reply?
I didn't respond to him [...] The thing is that these things keep accumulating until one day the rope breaks. That day was very tough for me, I'm talking about a health issue.
He ended up winning that match against Dzumhur, did the victory help bury the hatchet?
Some coaches forget everything after a victory, but not me. I couldn't take it anymore, I needed help in that area from now on. That way, I was committed to him until death, I left the match determined to do that, but then things didn't go well.
What happened after the match?
While he was cycling, I was sitting in the restaurant with his manager. I told him very clearly: "Today is my last day, I feel bad, I have palpitations". I don't know if it was because of the sun, the pressure, or the bad blood that made me do what had happened, but I felt empty.
Was he surprised?
Not at all, he knew something like that could happen. Then the physical trainer and the physiotherapist arrived, and I also told them.
Well?
They understood me perfectly. We didn't talk much more because we were destroyed after the match, I didn't even eat. I didn't feel well at that moment, so I decided to go back to my hotel to rest. Three hours later, I send a message to Alex, the message you have read. Around 10:30 PM, after coming from the vet, he replies and says, "We'll talk tomorrow."
Okay.
I assure you I got excited, I wanted to talk! I started thinking that maybe he was open to reflecting, or maybe proposing to finish the tournament together and then discuss the text I sent. Do you think that if the next day we sat down to talk and he asked me to stay, I wouldn't have stayed?
You tell me.
There is zero chance I wouldn't have stayed, I stay 101%! The issue is that conversation never happened. The next day I was in the hotel, calm, 10:30 in the morning. Suddenly, a person from his team calls me: "Alex asks you to take care of your plane ticket, find it yourself and pay for it. You can go to Miami."
[...]
This changes everything, I was frozen. Two hours later, I reacted, blocked him from my phone, also blocked his wife, packed my suitcase, checked out of the hotel, and said goodbye. By the way, that same message I sent to him, minutes later I also sent it to all the team members, so they knew what I had sent to Alex. I have the response from each of them: they all congratulated me.
You wanted to talk to him.
Of course, I was waiting for that call to see each other at the club, at the hotel, wherever to have that conversation. It was totally unexpected for me.
And then you post the famous Instagram story.
Look, I posted it because I think I did something that not many coaches are willing to do these days. Something that sets me apart from other coaches is that, in order to do the right thing, I am willing to lose my job. There are values that are non-negotiable for me, no matter what, no matter when. You can't turn a blind eye to certain things.
Why do you think Alex acted that way?
I don't know, there are moments where it seems like he suffers from temporary madness episodes, it also happens on the court. There are minutes where a thought crosses his mind and anything can happen, he completely loses focus.
So, you didn't leave without warning.
Not at all, you can clearly see it in the message. He invited me to find my own ticket. I have not been a bad person with him, I never was, from the first day to the last, I was a ten with Alex. And he knows it. I remember when we started working together what his requests were: "Mariano, all I ask of you is to always be honest with me, to tell me the truth, with respect, but always the truth, even if it's harsh." Months later, I expressed my intention to hire someone to help him in the mental department, to help him manage the moments and energies [...] Months went by and he was not ready to bring someone in, you see that certain things keep happening, until the rope breaks.
In the press conference, he said you didn't explain the reasons for your departure to him.
That's a lie, it was not like that, the reasons are all in that message. In fact, I start the text by telling him that I am not the right coach for him. I always think about the player, with Alex, there was an evident area that needed improvement, but I was not achieving that change in him. Also, I was starting to feel unwell, I grew very fond of this kid, but I didn't want to end up getting sick. The whole text is written with respect and love, I offered my point of view on everything that could make him better... honestly, I don't deserve everything he said or what happened.
Why didn't you tell him that in person the next day?
Do you know what's going on? Communication is not Alex's greatest strength. It's not easy to sit down and talk with him, especially about topics that can be heavy or that he knows might bother him. It's not a bad thing, but it's just not his strongest suit. The thing is, I was feeling unwell, that's why I went to the hotel and sent him that message from there.
Why don't you want to publish the text you sent to him?
They are private matters, things that need to stay inside, but I showed it to you because I need you to understand how I felt after hearing Alejandro's press conference the other day. I needed to come here and tell exactly what happened.
There's a moment where Alex claims that you had done this before, even warns the locker room to be careful with you. Why?
Well, I don't know, because before that, I was working with Brandon Nakashima for two years. Maybe in his mind, he thinks I left him high and dry, but it wasn't like that. I finished the 2025 season with Brandon, and that's when we didn't reach an agreement to continue due to some conditions they imposed on me. Moreover, my current relationship with Brandon is excellent, both with him and his mom. I also worked with Cristian Garín, ask him how I am personally or how I work. A lot of people from the tour wrote to ask me what happened; they know perfectly well how I am.
Something must have really bothered him.
It hurt that I decided to leave... and that I left. It wasn't pleasant for me either, after the relationship with Alex all these months, receiving that call from his team with such a statement was very tough. The last thing he can say is that I left without giving reasons because they are all within the message. What do you mean I didn't tell anyone? The whole team knew!
Lack of communication.
Going back to before, communication is not Alex's greatest virtue, maybe he doesn't even know that the rest of the team members also received that message. It's a very strange situation, which is why I decided to speak up because the information he shared in that conference was incomplete, and some comments he made were meant to hurt.
There are harsh phrases, yes.
That's not right, especially after all the effort I put in from start to finish. Sometimes players forget everything we do for them. Perhaps he doesn't agree with everything I wrote in that message, but he can never doubt that it is written and delivered with a lot of love and respect. Let's not forget that this is what he asked of me when we started working together, honesty. In fact, before leaving, I told the team who I believed was the ideal coach for him.
Who?
Pepe Vendrell. He's great, he would help him a lot.
I see you still care about Alex.
I'm not here to speak ill of Alex; I'm 47 years old, I'm not going to stoop to the level of a 25-year-old. I thought it was valuable to clarify this whole matter, and truly, I hope I can somehow help him.
How is your health?
The one who suffered the most from all this was my mom; it caused an allergic reaction when she heard Alex say that I was not a good person. With Alejandro, I was an excellent person, just like with the rest of the players I worked with. A bad person wouldn't write the message I sent to him. I didn't even leave the next day; I stayed until they informed me to find my plane ticket and leave.
Are you satisfied with your work with him?
I gave my best, always fully committed to each player, even putting aside my personal life. I had many trips, many sacrifices, a lot of stress. Alex is a tremendous young man, he has an amazing physique, I could speak well of him for a whole day.
But the mental aspect...
I'm telling you, if he improves that aspect one day, it's going to be very difficult to stop him; he will tire of winning tournaments. He is a great competitor, he goes all out for his people, he is a truly great guy. I don't understand what happened to him during that conference, I don't understand why he reacted that way, but at least I left being able to tell him everything I thought. Our job is to tell the player what we see, even if some people can't handle it, no matter how respectfully you say it. I left proud of everything I did, at peace with my work.
Have you spoken again?
Yes, yesterday morning he sent me a message. I had sent him another one the previous night, to which he responded very well.
How do you think he will feel reading this interview?
I warned him that I had no choice but to go out and explain what happened, to tell my side of the story. I think he realized his mistake, otherwise it's impossible that he would send me that message yesterday. The problem is that it was clear that he intended to harm me in that conference.
This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, ENTREVISTA | Mariano Puerta cuenta toda la verdad sobre su ruptura con Davidovich
-
29 May 2026 | 07:00Kouame's greatest talent as a tennis player is his mentality -
28 May 2026 | 20:00Landaluce: "I have proven many things to myself as a tennis player and person" -
28 May 2026 | 17:00Sinner: "I don't remember the last time I felt so weak" -
28 May 2026 | 10:00"The schedule in which Roland Garros has placed Sinner raises suspicions" -
28 May 2026 | 15:00The heat breaks Sinner and Cerúndolo knocks out the Roland Garros favorite -
28 May 2026 | 17:00Kouamé: "Winning the four Grand Slams and being number one is a dream" -
28 May 2026 | 22:00Vallejo: "The French audience had 90% responsibility for my defeat"
