Carlos Alcaraz announced his split from long-term coach Juan Carlos Ferrero last week, with the duo ending their association after seven years together. And former Wimbledon winner Marion Bartoli is concerned the six-time Grand Slam champion could quit tennis in three years’ time.

Alcaraz, 22, rose to prominence throughout the 2021 tennis season after breaking through as a teenager. The talented star reached the US Open quarter-finals in his maiden appearance at Flushing Meadows as an 18-year-old before winning the tournament in 2022 when he was still only 19. He has gone on to win two French Open titles and lift two Wimbledon trophies, with the Spaniard also getting his hands on US Open silverware for a second time in September.

Ferrero’s departure from Alcaraz’s coaching team came as a huge shock to the tennis world. And Bartoli admitted during an interview with RMC Sport: “I am worried – but in a measured way – because he is someone who has exceptional qualities to begin with.

“But he needs structure because otherwise he could end up quitting tennis like [Bjorn] Borg did at 25. And we have a genius here, so we don’t want that – we want him to continue for a very, very long time.”

Bartoli won her only Grand Slam title at the 2013 edition of Wimbledon before retiring from tennis 40 days later at the age of 28.

And discussing Alcaraz’s coaching options, she explained: “What’s going to happen is that for the first six months, it’s going to be a trial-and-error process.

“There will be names circulating, people wondering who will take the job, who won’t. Of course, to coach a genius like Alcaraz, he’s not going to face many rejections.”

She added: “If things don’t work out with the person he hires for whatever reason, and it’s [Jannik] Sinner who starts taking the first two Grand Slams of the season – that is the Australian Open, where Jannik is the overwhelming favourite, and Roland Garros, where he was one point away from winning it – he’s going to call Juan Carlos back immediately. That’s obvious.”

Alcaraz will be aiming to win the Australian Open for the first time next month but faces a tough task to claim silverware as he has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park.

At the start of this year, he was defeated by Novak Djokovic in the last eight, with Alexander Zverev knocking him out at the same stage in 2024.

And Alcaraz’s fierce rival Sinner will go into next month’s Grand Slam as the favourite after winning back-to-back Australian Open titles in 2024 and 2025.