PARIS (AP) — The coach who suddenly left Alejandro Davidovich Fokina during the French Open says he did so only after the player urged him to go.
Davidovich Fokina told reporters that Mariano Puerta left for Miami after the Spaniard's first-round victory at Roland Garros, and he expressed regret about hiring him.
Puerta, a former Roland Garros runner-up, responded in an interview with puntodebreak.com published Friday that he had been frustrated with Davidovich Fokina's emotional outbursts, but that he expected they would clear the air.
Instead, the Argentine said “a person from his team calls me: ‘Alex asks you to take care of your plane ticket, find it yourself and pay for it. You can go to Miami.’”
Puerta said he had also been feeling unwell during Davidovich Fokina's first-round win. The 23rd-ranked Davidovich Fokina lost his second-round match to Thiago Agustín Tirante 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-3 on Wednesday.
Puerta has been a controversial figure in tennis. As a player, the Argentine served bans in two separate doping cases. He retired as a player in 2009.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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