David Ferrer says he has split from coach Javier Piles and will work with Jose Altur at the start of the 2014 season. The world No. 3 has been with Piles for almost 15 years, dating back to his junior days.
“Tomorrow I will make a statement because I finished my relation with my coach Javier Piles three or four days ago,” said Ferrer on a conference all to promote the upcoming Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition in Abu Dhabi, reported *Sport360*. “I am sad because it was a very familial relationship and next year I will begin with Altur along with my same team. I broke my relation with Javier, it was okay, we didn’t have any personal problems. We worked together for many years and we decided to end the coaching relationship.”
Under Piles’ guidance this season, Ferrer reached his first Grand Slam final (at Roland Garros) and finished the year at a career-high ranking of No. 3.
There have been a number of high-profile coaching moves on the ATP this offseason, with Novak Djokovic hiring Boris Becker, Kei Nishikori hiring Michael Chang, and Marin Cilic reuniting with Goran Ivanisevic. Roger Federer asked Stefan Edberg to train with him for a week in Dubai, and the Swede left open the possibility of working with him next season.