In a bizarre set of incidents, the No. 2 Singles player from Spain, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, got abandoned by his coach, Mariano Puerta, after he defeated the Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in the opening round of the French Open.
Following his win, the Spaniard and his coach allegedly got into a massive argument. What followed next was nothing short of absurd. His mentor quit over a text, flew back to Miami, and left Fokina to fend for himself at the 2026 Roland Garros.
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In the aftermath of the incident, the former World No. 14 was asked in a news conference about why he fired his coach in the middle of his French Open campaign. The 26-year-old then narrated the entire episode.
“We didn’t fight. Everything was normal. After the match against Dzumhur we had lunch and after that I went to cool down. He said he was feeling bad and was going to the hotel.” – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina explained.
“In the afternoon, like two-three hours later, he texted me a message saying that he will not continue. He didn’t say anything to anybody in the team, he just took the flight and flew to Miami without saying a word to us.” – Fokina added.
He continued by saying that Mariano Puerta has the reputation of abandoning players in dire situations. He has previously done it with other players, so in hindsight, it was his fault for hiring the controversial Argentinian. He has previously coached the No. 2 singles tennis player from Chile, Christian Garin, and the 26-year-old American professional, Brandon Nakashima.
Without Mariano Puerta’s guidance, Alejandro revealed, it affected his mental stability subconsciously, and he subsequently lost the second-round match with an unseeded Argentinian, Agustin Tirante, on Wednesday.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s former coach Mariano Puerta once admitted lying to CAS about doping
The former Argentinian tennis professional Mariano Puerta admitted lying to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the hope of a reduced sentence, after testing positive for the second time in a PED test.
After four months of attaining his career high, which was the final of the 2005 French Open against Rafael Nadal, Puerta triggered a positive result for etilefrine, a banned cardiorespiratory stimulant. Before this incident, in 2003, the Roland Garros finalist also returned a positive test for a banned anabolic steroid. Once the incident came to light, Puerta was initially banned for eight years, but due to his tactical defense strategy, the penalty was reduced to 2 yeas, which he later admitted was based on a lie.
In his defense, the former tennis professional said he drank water from a glass used by his former wife, Sol Estevanez, to take Effortil, a medication commonly taken for decreasing menstrual cramps that contains etilefrine.
“But I did not take any sporting advantage. I don’t want to be seen as a deceiver” – Mariano Puerta later said in an interview.
Puerta admitted his legal advisors asked him to roll with this version since no other story would work in favour of the Argentanian. Fifteen years later, at the age of 41, Puerta revealed that the origin of the drug was not his then-wife’s medication, but as a result of ginseng and caffeine pills that his fitness coach used to make for him.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina hired the former tennis champ in January following his split with Felix Mantilla. No official statement has been released by Mariano Puerta since disappearing from the French Open.
Edited by Ahana Bhaumik