Carlos Alcaraz signaled the end of Novak Djokovic’s long reign at Wimbledon with a rousing 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory to capture the All England Club title for the first time on Sunday.
It is pure coincidence that, following Rafael Nadal, another Spanish player is rising through the ranks to become the best in the world of tennis. Carlos Alcaraz’s meteoric rise to the top has piqued the imagination of many sports fans.
Carlos Alcaraz won his first Wimbledon title on Sunday, ending Novak Djokovic’s long reign at the All England Club with a 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory.
The Spaniard, 20, defeated the seven-time champion to become the Challenge Cup’s youngest winner since 18-year-old Boris Becker won the second of his three Wimbledon titles in 1986.
Novak Djokovic was attempting to win his eighth Wimbledon singles title and sixth in a row. Djokovic was seeking to match Roger Federer’s All-England Club record of eight titles and Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles. At the All-England Club, Alcaraz was attempting to win his maiden trophy.
Who is Carlos Alcaraz?
The tennis player was born in El Palmar (Murcia), a small community with a population of roughly 24,000 people. He grew up in a tennis-loving family; his grandpa was the founding member of a tennis club, and his father, a semi-pro who finished second in the Spanish Championship, also maintained a tennis academy.
With that background, Alcaraz and his three brothers had no choice but to play tennis, especially growing up in Spain with a role model like Nadal, who won his first Grand Slam when Alcaraz was just two years old in 2005.
A year later, at the age of three, Alcaraz received his first tennis racquet, and never looked back.
“If it’s happening, it is not by chance. Since he was a child it was clear to him what he wanted to be. He had a very defined vision of how far he wanted to go, and that’s not easy because as a child or adolescent, your desires tend to fluctuate,” Josefina Cutillas, a sports psychologist who supported Alcaraz from age eight to 16 explained in an article in Spanish daily, El Pais.
And what he “wanted to be” is closer to him than ever now. Because Alcaraz didn’t want to be good, he wanted to be the best.
Who is Carlos Alcaraz’s coach
Juan Carlos Ferrero, a former World No. 1 and two-time Olympian who won the French Open the same year his pupil was born, trains Alcaraz.
Ferrero has been working with Alcaraz since the summer of 2018.
Ferrero stated why he opted to train ‘Carlitos’ in an interview with Teledeporte after Alcaraz won the Miami Masters 1000.
“He was something different from what I was used to. It is not the same as training Alexander Zverev, who back then was No. 3 in the world. With Carlos, we still had everything to do. He was a youngster that had a lot of potential but was very untidy, and I think that’s something we have improved. I feel the level of Carlos’s game is still at 60% of his maximum.”
Career highlights of Carlos Alcaraz
Birthdate: May 5, 2003
Birthplace: El Palmar, Murcia, Spain
2018 marked his professional debut.
Career earnings:: $19,634,952
Rank: Number one in the world
Career honors
12 titles
2 Grand Slams
US Open (1) – 2022
Wimbledon (1) – 2023
Alcaraz, 20, is 16 years junior to Djokovic’. Sunday’s match saw the greatest age gap between two men’s Grand Slam finalists in nearly 50 years.
The only player in history to win 21 Grand Slams was bound to be a role model for Alcaraz, who grew up witnessing all of Nadal’s triumphs.
Alcaraz, who is only 20 years old, discussed comparisons between himself and Nadal and how dangerous those comparisons may be.
“It is not easy being compared to Nadal, because both generations end up losing. He is an idol and there is only one of him. I continue working hard to be a professional tennis player,” he told TennisWorld.
“I want to be like Rafa. My game is more like Roger Federer’s, but my role model is Rafa because my game is more suited to clay,” he continued.
