Mumbai, Dec. 19 -- The last time Carlos Alcaraz met Jannik Sinner in a tennis match, the Spaniard ended his post-match speech with a warning. "Hope you're going to be ready for next year," the world No.1 said after losing to Sinner in the title clash of ATP Tour Finals last month. "Because I will be." A bit of light-hearted banter, perhaps, between the two biggest names in men's tennis at the moment. But it told a brief story of all the work and effort the players put in during the off-season - a prized phase between the last major event of the season and the first week of the new year. A period dedicated to vacations, reflection, analysis, preparation and a reset. But now Alcaraz, the most unpredictable player on court, has made the most unexpected move. On Wednesday, the 22-year-old announced that he is mutually ending the seven-year association with his coach, former world No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero. "Juanki and I have decided to end our time together as coach and player," Alcaraz wrote in a post in Spanish on social media. "Thank you for making my childhood dreams a reality. We started on this road when I was just a boy and for all this time you have been with me on an incredible journey, on and off the court. I have enjoyed every step with you so much. "We have reached the top, and I think that if our sporting paths have to separate it should be from there, from the place we always worked for and aspired to reach. "Now is a time of change for both of us, new adventures, new projects." The timing of the split is curious. Especially considering the new season begins in just over two weeks. A BBC report even suggests that Ferrero wanted to continue working with the player he had first started working with when Alcaraz was 15. "We have been an incredible team despite the difficulties, and I am sure you will continue to achieve great success," Ferrero wrote in Spanish in a social media post. "I wish I could have continued. I am convinced that good memories and good people always find a way to cross paths again." In most cases when a player and coach split, it comes at the end of a stint that was not as fruitful as hoped. But the Alcaraz-Ferrero partnership included six Grand Slam titles, 24 ATP titles and, currently, 50 weeks at World No 1. The 2025 season, in fact, was Alcaraz's best. He won the French Open and US Open titles, regained the world No.1 spot from Sinner, won a career-best eight tour titles and finished with a season-leading 71 match wins. Everything had been working out well. Perhaps in that success lies a clue as to why Alcaraz may have decided to split with Ferrero. At a time when Sinner - Alcaraz's biggest threat on a tennis court - is continuing to evolve as a player, the Spaniard has to find newer ways to stay ahead of the curve. He probably wanted a shakeup. And he is not the first tennis player to have let go of a successful relationship with a coach. Back in 2017, a certain Novak Djokovic decided to sack his entire coaching staff, including long-term coach Marian Vajda. This came a year after he ended coaching ties with former world No.1 Boris Becker, who coached Djokovic to six Grand Slams title in three years - including the period from Wimbledon 2015 to the French Open of 2016, where Djokovic held each of the four Slams at the same time. Djokovic's shakeup was to shock his way out of the slump he had hit. His fortunes turned a year later when he won Wimbledon and the US Open a year later. The same time Djokovic sought change, Rafael Nadal split with his uncle and former coach Toni, under whose guidance the Spaniard had won 14 Grand Slam titles. Crests and troughs are a cruel reality for an elite sportsperson. Roger Federer faced it, so did Nadal and Djokovic. Even the great Serena Williams, who seemed to hover over her competition majestically, went through an inexplicable downturn. No official reason has been given for the Alcaraz-Ferrero split - the biggest player-coach separation in recent years. There are some suggestions, it was due to economic reasons as well. But, possibly, Alcaraz wanted to avoid going through the trough after the spectacular season he has had. A shock to the system that brought him success, but perhaps he may have been unable to sustain it? If Alcaraz has to keep dodging bullets from Sinner, it's better to stay a moving target....