Davidovich Fokina abandoned by coach in Paris

Spanish tennis player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was left without a coach at the French Open after his mentor, Mariano Puerta, suddenly left Paris, CE Report quotes BTA.

The coach reportedly sent only a text message before flying to Miami without warning, leaving the 21st seed to manage on his own at French Open, Reuters reports.

The strange split reportedly happened after Davidovich Fokina’s exhausting five-set victory over Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur in the first round of the Grand Slam tournament, following a heated conversation between the player and coach.

“After the match against Dzumhur, we had lunch and then I went to calm down a bit. He said he felt unwell and was going to the hotel,” Alejandro Davidovich Fokina explained.

“In the afternoon, around two or three hours later, he sent me a message saying he would not continue… He did not say anything to anyone from the team, he simply took a plane and flew to Miami without telling us a word. I heard he had done this several times before with other players, so it seems normal for him. I’m not going to defend him after he decided to leave. It’s not my problem — he is an adult who made his own choice,” the Spanish tennis player added.

Without the guidance of his coach, Davidovich Fokina lost his second-round match to Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante.

The Spaniard also revealed that Puerta blocked both his phone number and his wife’s number, although he insisted there was no serious conflict between them and no physical altercation that caused the coach’s mysterious departure.

“The truth is we didn’t argue, everything was normal. We communicated a lot during the match against Dzumhur. I don’t know what to say because it was strange. But nothing surprises me anymore. I’ve seen many things in my career, so this is just another one. I thought he was a very good person, but then I discovered he had done this several times before with other players. I told myself that it was my fault for hiring him,” Alejandro Davidovich Fokina concluded.

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