Carlos Alcaraz: an exclusive interview
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Carlos Alcaraz, aged 22, has already won five Grand Slam titles and is vying to become the greatest male tennis player of his generation. But he’s never faced an opponent like this before. The unfancied challenger on the other side of the net has an unorthodox technique and a less than athletic silhouette. Nevertheless, the underdog senses that this is his moment, moves swiftly (by his standards) to the net and cuts off the Spaniard’s shot with an angled backhand volley. Alcaraz stands rooted to the spot. This year’s French Open champion and Wimbledon finalist can only look on as the ball bounces twice – a clean winner.
If you are expecting this dream sequence to come to an end, you are not alone – but this unlikely scene really occurred in the leafy surrounds of an English garden just south of London on the eve of Wimbledon. OK, the court may not have been in tip-top condition, the tennis pro unwilling to risk injury by moving to the ball as a result, but a winner’s a winner – and I’m taking it. Let’s ignore the numerous preceding few balls that I either sent soaring into the heavens or slumping meekly into the bottom of the net.
This is what happens when Alcaraz is around. Fun takes over. In contrast to the ascetic self-discipline of Novak Djokovic or the laser-like focus of Rafael Nadal, there is a puppyish playfulness about the Murcia native. The big grin he frequently flashes when at leisure can be seen on court too if a particular point pleases him – even in tight matches or when he is losing. This, and his spectacular arsenal of shots, have made him a crowd favourite everywhere. Tipped for greatness from childhood, he enjoyed a breakout season in 2022, winning the US Open and becoming world number one aged just 19. He has since won four more Grand Slam titles: two French Opens and two Wimbledons, and is currently world number two behind his friend and rival, the Italian Jannik Sinner. Currently he and Sinner are trading major titles – Alcaraz won this year’s French Open, Sinner took Wimbledon – but the plan is, according to his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, to make him “the greatest player in history”. He has made $47.4mn in prize money, and at least the same amount again in off-court earnings.
“If Carlos plays his A+ game, there isn’t anyone in the world who can beat him,” John McEnroe has said, while according to Andre Agassi, “he’s like a flying saucer versus the F-15s… His speed doesn’t diminish.” And Alcaraz – who has sponsorship deals with Nike, Louis Vuitton, Rolex and more – has the potential to reach an audience far wider than the usual tennis one. “Carlos represents the next generation – not just in sport, but in spirit,” says Pharrell Williams, Louis Vuitton men’s creative director. “His energy, discipline and joy remind us all what it means to do what you love at the highest level. Carlos is the future – and he’s already here.” His “optimism and determination resonate deeply”, adds Vuitton’s chairman and CEO, Pietro Beccari.
“I really enjoy playing tennis. It’s my passion, it’s what I chose, it’s what I love,” says Alcaraz. At 6ft, he is less towering than other players but still imposingly muscular; he gives off an eminently relaxed and unstarry vibe. “But in the end, it’s like everything else. If you play every day and you don’t have a break for yourself, to disconnect, that excitement kind of fades. So I always try to find moments of fun – of wanting to live.”
While Sinner recently released an unlikely duet with Andrea Bocelli, the Spaniard has been channelling his inner Frank Sinatra: the title of a Netflix docuseries released earlier this year was Carlos Alcaraz: My Way. And so it proves when we meet. Throughout the afternoon, he exchanges laughing banter with me, the photographer, the stylist and numerous assistants, gamely rolls around in the grass, plays keepie-uppie football and changes into one outfit after another, often pausing to grab a small handful of Haribo on the way. But how do you balance that innate sense of fun with the requirements of this most demanding of individual sports?
Tennis players are, in some ways, punished for success. The deeper they go in tournaments, the less time off between them they get. When we meet, Alcaraz has been so busy that he hasn’t even had time for a haircut. He has just clinched the pre-Wimbledon warm-up title at Queen’s Club on grass. Only two weeks earlier he won his second French Open on the clay of Paris in one of the greatest-ever finals, coming back from two sets down and saving three championship points against Sinner.
“I simply thought about coming back little by little: one point, then another point, then another point, especially those three points,” he says. “Closing a Grand Slam is very, very difficult, so I knew that I would have chances. That’s why I stayed calm. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for him.”
Even on the brink of defeat, he never appeared to flinch or look beaten. Is his inner confidence really that unshakeable or is he just a good actor?
“It was a bit the image I wanted to give as well,” he smiles. “At no time did I doubt that I could come back, but obviously you have to show an image of self-confidence at all times. As soon as you show weakness to the other, that’s it – you are lost.”
What followed his victory has become almost as famous as the win itself. Rather than immediately taking to the practice courts again, Alcaraz allowed himself a few days’ holiday in Ibiza, which included one night out partying. In today’s monastic tennis milieu, this is the equivalent of going on a George Best-style marathon bender. Djokovic is said to have once celebrated a Grand Slam final win with one square of chocolate, and Sinner told me last year that he indulges after big tournament wins by having a hamburger. But such extreme self-denial is not in the Alcaraz playbook.
“I’ll eat a hamburger before, during or after a tournament,” he says. “And I always allow myself some dessert, some chocolate – that’s no problem for me. How do I celebrate? Maybe when I go home. My mother’s food is always the best. And I drink champagne and Coca-Cola, which I don’t do during tournaments… Without overdoing it, of course.”
Both of us shoot a glance towards his manager, Albert Molina, who is listening nearby, focused on his phone. “Without overdoing it,” Alcaraz repeats a little louder, grinning. Molina – who in the Netflix series plays the loving but tough antagonist making sure Alcaraz doesn’t get everything his way – doesn’t look up, but lets slip the slightest smirk.
Alcaraz hails from the village El Palmar, in south-east Spain. Its population is around 25,000, its “notable people” entry on Wikipedia now a list of one. His father was a former low-ranked tennis player turned coach and club administrator, his mother a sales assistant at the nearby Ikea. Carlos Jr’s talent was evident early. Molina spotted him at 11 and IMG, the premier sports and entertainment agency, signed him at 12.
Some have likened Alcaraz’s variety-filled game to Roger Federer’s: today, he says that the Swiss great is the player he’d have loved to play the most. (They just missed each other, with Federer’s last Wimbledon in 2021 being Alcaraz’s first.) But, perhaps inevitably, many others have compared him to his illustrious compatriot Nadal. The two are clearly simpatico, having played doubles together in the Olympics last year, yet their playing styles are markedly different – as are their personalities – and Alcaraz has balked at the drawing of parallels, saying: “I don’t want people to call me Rafa’s successor.”
With Federer and Nadal retired, and Djokovic seemingly in the twilight of his career, the tennis establishment is desperate to crown their heirs. But as Alcaraz puts it in the Netflix series, “those guys are aliens”. What is it like trying to follow a trio who between them won 67 Grand Slam titles?
“Tennis has always had great rivalries and great players,” he says. “It’s a privilege that people look at our games that way, with such enthusiasm, but in the end we have no obligation to do what they have done, far from it. If you don’t stay strong in your ideals, in what you want, that pressure can eat you. You have to know how to differentiate. We try not to think about any pressure and least of all about doing what they did.”
Long gone are the abrasive days of players like Connors, McEnroe and Năstase who frequently butted heads and riled each other, often to viewers’ delight. Alcaraz, in contrast, is friendly with Sinner, who looks set to be his chief rival over the next decade.
“Trash-talking gets a lot of attention. People really like the idea that there is friction between us,” he admits. “That’s what sells. But although tennis is an individual sport, we are with the same players every week, day in and day out … Jannik and I, who have had great battles on the court, see each other a lot off of it. We talk, we train together sometimes. And in the end you forge a good relationship, a beautiful relationship … We want to win and beat each other, but then off court, being good people and getting along is another matter. For me that is one of the virtues and values of sport.”
There is, however, a shadow world where such politesse is far rarer: the online one. Andy Murray recently spoke out on the dangers of social media, and players such as Katie Boulter have opened up about the abuse they have been subjected to online.
“I use social media a lot and it’s not a very good environment – not to say a horrible one,” says Alcaraz, who has 7.4mn followers on Instagram and 1.1mn on TikTok. “It’s become a very important tool for work, but on a personal level it’s a very ugly world. In the end nothing on there is real. People show a life that isn’t really theirs, a face that’s not theirs. And then aside from that, there are a lot of people who can reach you with a simple comment and can hurt you. I think that there is no worse weapon than words.”
He finds solace in the world he knows best: back with his family and longtime friends in Murcia, and his older brother, Álvaro, who often travels with him. “Those are your real friends, because they were there when you were nobody and tennis was just a hobby. And when you are with them you feel normal, you feel that you are not a tennis player and you are not famous. You go back to your childhood – and that’s a beautiful thing … Being back home is what refills my energy tank.”
Does he really live in the tiny bedroom in his parents’ apartment shown in the Netflix series? “Yes. Not for much longer, but for now I’m still with my parents in the same house as always. Since I travel a lot, I don’t get to see my parents much, so when I’m at home I like to make the most of it.”
He also uses it as a storage depot for his growing trove of trophies. “There are trophies in my room and in the living room. We’re looking for more spaces to put them.” Surely they must be running out of room at the rate he’s winning? The Queen’s Club one, for example, is enormous. “I’m not taking that one home,” he laughs.
Another problem is shoes. “I’m a complete sneaker fanatic,” he confesses. “I love them. And there isn’t any space left at home. My mother tells me off because I come back from every tournament with more sneakers and she says, ‘No, don’t bring more, there’s nowhere to put them.’”
What next? When I caught up with him after Wimbledon he was characteristically sanguine about his defeat: “I thoroughly enjoyed competing at Wimbledon again. It’s a special place. I look forward to coming back next year, but after recharging the batteries, the work starts for the forthcoming US Open swing.” It’s a mood echoed in his words in the post match press conference: “This rivalry [with Sinner] is coming better and better, and I’m really grateful for that because it gives me the opportunity to give my 100 per cent in every practice, every day just to be better. Because the level I have to maintain just to beat Jannik is really high.”
In January he will be looking to complete the “Career Slam” by winning the fourth major championship that has so far eluded him: the Australian Open. He would be the youngest man ever to do so – and you wouldn’t put it past him. However, he’d like a break first. A recurring concern for him is the shortness of the tennis off-season (just the month of December), which many players have complained about. “We’re trying to change the schedule a bit, seeing if they can remove more tournaments so we can have more rest time, more vacation time,” he says. “It’s not easy, but we’re trying.”
Does it leave any time for hobbies? “I love playing golf and I played a few courses here in the UK,” he says. “With the amount of rain you have, there should be a lot of great courses!” He is far from alone. “Rafa plays really well,” Alcaraz declares. “Alex de Minaur plays too. I played Andy Murray the other day and he beat me. He’s spent a lot of time on the course practising and you can tell… I also played Casper Ruud [three-time major finalist] and he beat me too.”
He owns the defeat but you sense it might rankle more because Ruud is a current rival. Will he be seeking revenge on the tennis court? “Oh you bet,” Alcaraz affirms, the big grin returning. “The next time I play him, I’ll remember he beat me at golf — and I’ll hit the ball even harder.”
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