Spanish player Alejandro Davidovich, who was eliminated in the second round of Roland Garros, confirmed after the match the abrupt breakup with his coach since last January, the Argentine Mariano Puerta, finalist in the 2005 clay Grand Slam, the first won by Rafa Nadal.
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“After the match on Sunday we went to dinner and I went to relax. He said he was feeling unwell and went to the hotel, everything seemed normal, nothing had happened. And in the afternoon, two or three hours later, he sent me a message saying he didn’t want to continue with me,” Davidovich said.
“He took a flight and went to Miami without saying a word to us. Later I found out that he had already done this in the past with two or three other players,” said the Spaniard, seeded 21st, shortly after being eliminated by Argentine Thiago Tirante.
“He took a flight and went to Miami without saying a word to us”
The rumor of the breakup had started circulating during the tournament, after French public television revealed it in an online broadcast.
Unlike what was said on that channel, Davidovich indicated that there was no fight between them and said he had no explanation for the reasons that led Puerta to decide to end their relationship.
“He is an adult to make his own decisions. I don’t know if I will respond to his message, but as a person, he has let the whole team down,” said the Spaniard, who added: “I thought he was a good person.”
“If he acts like this at over 40 years old… I don’t wish him ill. He was a good person until he broke up with me,” said the tennis player, who doubted that after this flight he will find other players on the circuit to coach.
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As a person, he has let the whole team down; I am not made of stone”
Davidovich said he was very surprised by Mariano Puerta’s attitude: “We had a very good relationship, nothing had ever happened, not even tension. Now, he has even blocked my wife’s phone and mine too.”
The Spaniard admitted that this situation affected him in the match against Tirante: “I am not made of stone and although I had two days to digest it, it surely affected me unconsciously.”
But he recalled that he did not come with the best preparation to face Roland Garros, lacking the physical condition to endure five-set matches, although in his debut in the tournament he won one against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur.
“I did not have enough preparation to come to Roland Garros in the best conditions. I knew I was not in my best physical shape,” said the highest-ranked Spaniard in the tournament.
Davidovich said that next season he will start working with Pepo Clavet, as planned, to prepare for the grass-court tour: “We have two weeks of training to do a short preseason and we will see if it fits well to play the Stuttgart tournament.”
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