Carlos Alcaraz is the hottest new sensation in the tennis world. Within a year of becoming professional, Carlos Alcaraz climbed to the 11th in the ATP rankings. But the Spaniard didn’t just stop there, he made it all the way to the top of the rankings and did the unthinkable at the 2023 edition of Wimbledon by beating Novak Djokovic in five sets in the final. In this post, we will take a closer look at the life and career of Carlos Alcaraz. Let’s get started.

Carlos Alcaraz: All You Need To Know

When was Carlos Alcaraz born?

The future tennis superstar was born on May 5, 2003, in the village of El Palmar in the province of Murcia in southeastern Spain in a large family. Carlos’s parents raised three more sons. 

How did Carlos Alcaraz start playing tennis?

For the first time, Carlos Alcaraz entered the court at the age of four at a tennis school owned by his father and aspired to be like Spanish tennis legend, Rafael Nadal.

By the age of 12, Alcaraz had won all the children’s tournaments in his native province and received his first personal sponsor. After 3 years, the prodigy entered the Equelite Academy. There, the young tennis star’s coach was Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former world number one in singles, under whose guidance the Spanish tennis player still performs. According to the mentor, even then the ward was ahead in skill of both his peers and much older rivals.

ATP Tour

The very next season, Carlos became the European tennis champion and made his debut in the main draw of the ATP, and in 2020, the Association of Tennis Professionals named Alcaraz Rookie of the Year. The athlete also entered the top 250 of the ATP rating, confirming the rapid progress in his career.

In 2021, the Spanish tennis player qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open, becoming the youngest participant in the men’s singles. On the day he turned 18, Carlos took to the court against his childhood idol Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Open series tournament. The victory went to the decorated veteran, although Nadal praised the energy and character of the newcomer.

In the summer, Alcaraz made his debut at Wimbledon and beat his Japanese opponent in the first round, but was unable to beat Daniil Medvedev in the second round. A couple of months later, the Spanish tennis player participated in the Winston-Salem Open tournament, left Alexei Popyrin behind in the qualifying round, and reached the semi-finals, where he could not defeat his Swedish opponent Mikael Ymer.

At the US Open, Carlos reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The brightest victory ended with the match with world number 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas, which Alcaraz called the best in his career at that time. Also, the tennis player compared himself with Roger Federer and became the youngest quarter-finalist of the Grand Slam tournaments in men’s singles. Carlos could not finish the last game due to fatigue and a leg injury.

COVID-19

By November 2021, Alcaraz had already reached the top 35 of the ATP rankings and planned to make his debut as part of the Spanish national team at the end of the year in the final matches of the Davis Cup. However, on the eve of the tournament, Alcaraz received a positive test result for COVID-19, which is why he missed the team’s performance.

First ATP 500 title

The tennis player entered the 2022 season with renewed vigor and reached the third round of the Australian Open at the end of January. Afterward, Carlos flew to the Rio Open championship, where he defeated compatriot Jaume Munar, and then reached the final. The decisive match with Argentinean Diego Schwartzman brought Alcaraz his first title in the ATP 500 category tournament and 20th place in the ranking.

Next, the tennis player participated in Indian Wells and for the first time in his career reached the semi-finals of a Masters category tournament, but again could not defeat Rafael Nadal. Carlos Alcaraz also made his debut for the Spanish national team at the Davis Cup in a qualifying match against the Romanian team.

First Masters Triumph

The Miami Masters came to a triumphant end for the Spanish tennis player: Carlos reached the final and defeated Norwegian rival Kasper Ruud, becoming the first Spaniard and the youngest winner of the Miami Men’s Tournament in 37 years. Previously, this record was held by Novak Djokovic, who in 2007 became the champion at 20. Thanks to this achievement, Alcaraz immediately jumped nine places to the eleventh spot on the ATP rankings.

World Number 1

Carlos’s biography is often compared to the life story of Rafael Nadal and Boris Becker, who burst into the tennis limelight just as quickly. Alcaraz, who a year earlier was not even among the top hundred tennis players, was called the main discovery of the season. It was also possible that the Spaniard would displace Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic from the leading positions in the world rankings.

And so it happened – having reached the final of the US Open 2022 for the first time, Alcaraz defeated Ruud and became world number 1. In addition, the athlete became the youngest leader in the world rankings, winning the Grand Slam at the age of 19.

Beating Novak Djokovic

In the 2023 season, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic were fighting for the lead in the ATP rankings, and the situation was constantly changing. At the beginning of the year, the Spaniard was forced to miss the Australian Open due to a leg injury, which is why he lost his world number 1 spot.

Carlos won his seventh title on clay in the final of the tournament in Buenos Aires, where he fought against Cameron Norrie in the final. Then there was a meeting with the Russian Daniil Medvedev in Indian Wells, which ended with the victory of Alcaraz. Another title allowed him to regain leadership in the rankings. However, a loss in Miami against Yannick Sinner put him back in 2nd place.

The tournament result in Madrid was marked for the athlete by a sensational defeat from the Hungarian Fabian Marozhan, who at that time was ranked 135 in the world.

The next meeting with the main rival Djokovic took place at Roland Garros. This time the Spaniard had to take a break due to leg cramps. The match ended with the Serbian’s victory. 

Carlos was able to reclaim the World Number 1 spot in June 2023 at the Queen’s Club tournament, where he beat Alex De Minor. This was Carlos Alcaraz’s first ever title on grass.

In July, Carlos went to Wimbledon. His confident play allowed him to reach the final, where the spirited youngster got the better of Novak Djokovic in five sets. The latter could not hold back his tears in his post-match speech. Alcaraz received $3.07 million for the victory.

Who is Carlos Alcaraz dating?

There is not much information publicly available about the athlete’s personal life, mainly because Carlos is focused on his career, trains, and performs a lot. However, there are rumors that Alcaraz is dating Spanish tennis player Maria Gonzalez Jimenez from the province of Murcia. The young people keep their alleged relationship out of sight of fans and do not publish joint photos on social networks.