Meet Carlos Alcaraz, tennis’s new golden boy – who could outshine Federer, Nadal and Djokovic
William Burgess After Carlos Alcaraz’s victory at Queens last week, there was only one place for a celebration. At the usual Spanish dinner time of 10pm, team Alcaraz gathered at Cambio de Tercio, the Spanish restaurant in Kensington that has been the de-facto social headquarters for players and their families – including Rafael Nadal – for nearly 20 years.
“Carlitos first came to us before the pandemic, when he was 15 years old,” says the restaurant’s owner, the tennis-mad Abel Lusa. “He’s a really good boy, always smiling, and from a great family – what we see on the television is exactly who he is. He was happy after the win, but these guys get in the habit of winning and not over-celebrating, just like Rafa used to do.”
There was no post-victory vino tinto for the young champion, he adds. “He didn’t drink alcohol, but he’s not a vegan or one of these guys who makes lots of particular requests. He eats our usual things – croquetas, jamón, fish. He’s unfussy.”
Unfussy, smiling, a nice guy – these are the calling cards of tennis’s latest superstar: a handsome, all-conquering Spaniard with bulging biceps who at the age of 20 has the world of tennis spread out before him. He arrives in SW19 as a tournament favourite and the number one seed. Last week he was announced as Louis Vuitton’s latest ambassador and there’s certainly a dash of the young Marlon Brando about him – with his brooding stare, built more like a boxer than the rangy tennis-player archetype.
The Spaniard has even caught the eye of Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, a famously keen player herself . “Carlos is very charming and very shy—both qualities that belie his rather monumental presence on the tennis court, where he is very fast and very powerful and quite charismatic,” she praises. “Off the court, I know he’s been quietly paying attention to fashion, and I think we’re all excited to see what he and Louis Vuitton might do together— it’s a great match!” she adds.
If you only tune in to Wimbledon, you might be surprised at the sudden preeminence of Alcaraz, known as Carlitos, but it is no shock to tennis fans, who have been watching agog at one of the most rapid ascents in the game’s history.
In the past year, he won his first major, the US Open, became the youngest-ever world number one and established himself as the sport’s most exciting prospect in a decade.
“Alcaraz is a sensation,” says Andrew Castle, the former British number one turned commentator and presenter. “Everyone wants him to be the new Federer, Nadal or Djokovic. There’s a gap there.”
Castle says the strength of the Spaniard’s game lifts him above his peers. “He hits the ball harder and with more topspin than even Nadal. In real life it takes your breath away. When he plays – and when you see those muscles live – there is electricity in the air. The sense of occasion he brings is off-the-chart brilliant.”
But his game is not about raw power: he has also reinvented the drop-shot, a tactic that had fallen out of favour in an era of titanic big hitting.
“When Carlos is in full flow, everything is coming at you,” says David Shaftel, the editor of the tennis magazine Racquet. “He’s hitting the ball really hard, he’s moving forward, he’s pushing you back, then he’s messing with you with the drop shot.”
Tennis loves a serial champion and has been spoiled with them over the past 20 years. Once upon a time, a handful of majors was enough to reinforce your reputation. Not any more. Roger Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams are all retired or getting older. Since their heyday, various new men’s hopes have risen – Matteo Berrettini, Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev – without anyone establishing themselves with anything like the same dominance as their forebears.
“I’ve seen him demolish those guys, it must be demoralising,” says Shaftel, who thinks Alcaraz has the potential to leapfrog the generation above him. “They have been waiting for their turn, but that generation is in danger of being orphaned by the greats.”
Being thumped by Alcaraz is an increasingly common experience for players on the pro circuit. They might envy the sport’s new golden boy and his multimillion-pound grin, but it doesn’t help them on court, particularly when the cries of “Vamos Carlitos” ring around the stadium.
For all Alcaraz’s on-court brilliance, his qualities beyond it are equally exciting. Charismatic and handsome, with granite biceps. If he hadn’t played tennis, it’s easy to imagine him succeeding in another sport. In interviews, he is charmingly self-effacing (his English, like Nadal in the early days, is faltering), gracious in both victory and in his increasingly rare losses. Even if he weren’t the world number one, he would be attracting outsize attention.
“He brings such energy to the arena,” says Laura Bailey, a photographer, model and tennis fanatic. “He’s a powerful leader of the next generation, liked and respected. His unbelievable generosity of spirit and enjoyment stands out on court. He’s inspired a vast amount of kids, and he’s generous with fans, offering more than an autograph. It’s a chat, a smile, a picture. He gives time and looks like he’s having fun. Long may it last.”
His marketability has not gone unnoticed. With his Louis Vuitton deal, Alcaraz is only the latest sports star signed up by luxury brands to help boost their appeal among the young. Emma Raducanu, the British US Open winner, was snapped up by Dior aged just 18. Alcaraz has spoken before about his interest in fashion, especially the way the late Virgil Abloh mixed sportswear with luxury, and his admiration for Pharrell Williams’ first collection at Louis Vuitton.
“Louis Vuitton has played a masterstroke in securing Alcaraz, who would have been inundated with offers since he won the US Open,” says Daniel-Yaw Miller, senior editorial associate at the Business of Fashion. “Alcaraz is everything that high-end brands covet, winning fans worldwide with his fighting spirit on court, and he’s good looking guy, which helps. Part of his appeal is that he’s raw and unpolished, he doesn’t have the typical ‘model’ image, with picture perfect skin.”
“Tennis has always been one of the few sports luxury houses have been comfortable with, because of its associations with elegance and tradition. Rising stars are hot property, and this new cohort are coveted both for their sporting credentials and social media savvy.”
Alcaraz has more than three million followers on Instagram, and half a million on TikTok – numbers likely to swell. Despite the attention, he seems remarkably grounded – there is none of the brattishness of a Kyrgios or the truculence of Djokovic.
It helps that he has had a while to think about it. His rise has been foretold since he was a boy. His fans put his down-to-earth nature down to his upbringing, where – following Nadal’s example – superstar promise does not come at the expense of humility. He was born on May 5 2003 in Murcia, southern Spain. His father, Carlos Alcaraz Senior, was also once in Spain’s tennis top 40, but whose career was curtailed by a lack of funding. He ran the family tennis academy, which had been set up by his father, the 20-year-old’s grandfather, also a gifted player. Carlitos started playing aged four. His talent was immediately evident, but money remained a problem. Luckily, Alfonso Lopes Rueda, the president of a Murcia-based yoghurt-and-cake company, helped bankroll the young Alcaraz through his early tournaments.
When Alcaraz was just 11, he was signed to IMG, the sports management group. Today he is managed by Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former Spanish number one, who won the French Open the year his superstar protégé was born.
Castle says Alcaraz’s upbringing in Murcia has played a role in his success. “There’s a good culture in Spanish tennis, which Nadal led the way on. Everyone is polite. Poor behaviour is not tolerated. Alcaraz’s team are charming men and all the infrastructure is in place – from the best physios to the racket stringers.”
Nobody doubts Alcaraz has what it takes to dominate the sport. He is still only 20, improving physically and mentally, a terrifying prospect for his opponents. But for now there remains one large, determined impediment to him, in the form of the Serbian Djokovic.
A Wimbledon final between them would represent a possible changing of the guard: the men’s game’s greatest-ever champion versus the beloved young pretender. Alcaraz will not have it easy. Djokovic remains in ominous good form: he beat a cramping Alcaraz in the semi final of the French Open earlier this month, on his way to winning his record 23rd Grand Slam.
Whether Alcaraz can win tennis’s most prestigious trophy this year or must wait a little longer, he is here to stay.
