French Open shock as Mariano Puerta leaves Davidovic Fokin via text

Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was left stunned at the French Open after coach Mariano Puerta abruptly quit via text message and flew to Miami without informing anyone in the team, forcing the 21st seed to continue her Roland Garros campaign without a coach by her side.

The strange split came shortly after Davidovic Fokina’s grueling five-set win over Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in the opening round. According to the Spaniard, there were no signs of trouble after the match as the two even had lunch together before Puerta returned to the hotel saying he was not feeling well.

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“After the match with Džumhur, we had lunch, and after that I went to cool down a bit. He said he was feeling bad, he was going to the hotel,” Davidovič Fokina told reporters.

A few hours later, however, the Spaniard received a message from Puerta that he would no longer continue as his coach.

“In the afternoon, after about two to three hours, he texted me that he would not continue,” said Davidovič Fokina.

“He didn’t say anything to any team, he just took a plane and flew to Miami without saying a word to us.

Puerta, a former Argentina player who previously worked with Christian Garin and Brandon Nakashima, allegedly blocked the phone numbers of Davidovic Fokina and his wife after leaving Paris.

Davidovic Fokina admitted that the sudden exit may have affected him mentally as he suffered a four-set defeat to Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirant in the second round on Wednesday.

“I guess it subconsciously affected me,” he said after the loss.

Despite the dramatic exit, the Spaniard insisted there was no argument between the two during or after the Dzumhur match.

“The thing is, we didn’t argue, everything was normal. Everything was normal in the match. We were very communicative in the match with Dzumhur,” he said.

“I don’t know what to say because it was strange. But nothing can surprise me anymore. I’ve seen a lot of things in my career, so this is a different thing.”

Davidovic Fokina later claimed that he discovered that Puerta had behaved similarly with other players in the past.

“I thought he was a very good person and then I found out that he had done it a few times with other players,” he said.

“I was like, ‘Okay, it was my fault for hiring him.’

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

28 May 2026 01:09 IST