Juan Carlos Ferrero will return to the ATP Tour next season as part of the Ben Shelton coaching team. The Spaniard, who guided Carlos Alcaraz to his first six major titles, will work alongside Shelton’s father and longtime coach, Bryan.
Shelton called it a “huge addition to my team for this upcoming season” and said he was looking forward to getting to work in the off-season.
“Ben has extraordinary talent, power and character,” Ferrero said. “I’m very happy to join Bryan and the team in this exciting new chapter.”
Ferrero is being added to the team rather than replacing Bryan Shelton, who left his job as head coach at the University of Florida in 2023 to travel with his son on tour. The new setup is expected to begin during the off-season in December, once Shelton has finished playing the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals in Turin.
Ferrero’s return to the tour
Ferrero, a former world No. 1 and the 2003 Roland Garros champion, said in September that he planned to return to coaching in 2027. He later confirmed he had reached an agreement with a player, but did not name him, prompting speculation about several possible candidates.
He is best known for his work with Alcaraz, which began in 2019 and ended in December 2025. Together they won six majors and eight Masters 1000 titles, and Ferrero shared the 2025 ATP Coach of the Year award with Samuel Lopez. He also coached Alexander Zverev in 2017 and 2018.
Shelton’s best season so far
Shelton, 24, is ranked world No. 4 after the most successful year of his career. He has won a career-best four titles in 2026, in Dallas, Munich, Stuttgart and Montreal, becoming the first American since Sam Querrey in 2010 to win tour-level titles on hard courts, clay and grass in the same season.
He also reached his first major final at the US Open, beating defending champion Alcaraz along the way before losing to Zverev, Ferrero’s former player.
The next target is an obvious one: a first Grand Slam title. Ferrero’s experience of winning at that level, as both a player and a coach, is likely to be central to the partnership.
Part of a busy coaching market
The announcement is the latest in a series of major coaching moves ahead of 2027. Felix Auger-Aliassime has hired Ivan Ljubicic, while Jannik Sinner confirmed recently that he will work with Magnus Norman.
