Alejandro Davidovich Fokina fires coach after training row before French Open second-round exit

The 21st-seeded Davidovich Fokina started his clay-court Grand Slam with a tough five-set win over Damir Dzumhur on Sunday as he overcame a deficit to win 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 to set up a second-round clash with Thiago Agustin Tirante.

The match lasted just over four hours and it clearly took a lot out of the Spaniard and his preparation for Wednesday's match was then thrown into disarray as he was involved in an argument with his coach Mariano Puerta.

Former world No 9 and 2005 French Open runner-up Puerta only joined Davidovich Fokina's coaching team this year, but France TV commentators announced the Argentine's departure on Tuesday.

"I've got a small scoop for you about Davidovich Fokina. He fired his coach between the first and second round. They had a huge quarrel while training," the commentator said during a live broadcast.

"Mariano Puerta returned back home. Maybe we'll hear more about it in the press in the coming days."

The news was confirmed by Spanish media on Wednesday.

And things went from bad to worse for Davidovich Fokina as he struggled with injury and the heat, requiring treatment on his leg at the end of the third set.

He eventually went down in four sets against Tirante with the Argentine winning 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 6-3 to set up a round of 32 clash with either Pablo Carreno Busta or Thansi Kokkinakis.

Having peaked at No 14 in the ATP Rankings last November, the Spaniard has struggled so far with form and injuries this year, resulting in a slump out of the top 20.

Although he currently sits at No 21 in the Live Rankings, he could slip further down with several players below him still in action at Roland Garros.

Davidovich Fokina is next set to be in action at the Stuttgart Open with the ATP 250 tournament starting on 8 June in Germany before he heads to England for the Queen's Club Championship and Wimbledon.

According to Marca, Pepo Clavet - the former coach of Karen Khachanov - is set to coach during the upcoming grass-court season with Drago Cladarin (physical trainer) and David Visco (physiotherapist) expected to remain part of his team.

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