Carlos Alcaraz: girlfriend, wife, children, family?

Here's what we know about the young tennis ace

Created: 05/01/2022 17:19

Carlos Alcaraz © IMAGO/Mutsu Kawamori

The 18-year-old tennis pro is often compared to superstar Rafael Nadal, who even sees him as his successor.

Things to know about Carlos Alacaraz's career.

Munich – Carlos Alcaraz, who was born in El Palmar on May 5, 2003, has been playing tennis since he was four years old.

Fifteen years later, the Spaniard made the most impressive headlines of his career to date: After beating the Norwegian Casper Ruud 7: 5, 6: 4 in the final (April 3, 2022; note) in Miami, Alcaraz is the third youngest player to win a Masters 1000 tournament (= the highest category after the Grand Slams).

Only US legend Michael Chang (1990 in Toronto) and superstar Rafael Nadal (2005 in Monte Carlo) were a few weeks younger when they triumphed.

The "impact" of this performance: After his success, Alcaraz climbed to eleventh place in the world rankings.

And: Even the Spanish King Felipe congratulated the young star on his first Masters title.

A few weeks later the next highlight:

Carlos Alcaraz – his career

His father's name is Carlos Alcaraz senior, his mother's name is Virginia.

He has three siblings: Alvaro, Sergio and Jaime.

At the age of four Carlos Alcaraz was already on the tennis court.

Since then he only wanted to play tennis.

His father says: "It was already clear at the age of five or six that he had special abilities." The former U16 European champion from Spain has been on the tour since 2018.

Due to his spectacular style of play, Alcaraz was soon seen as a potential future for the sport.

In 2019 he won his first ITF tournament.

After three Future titles in early 2020, he received a wildcard for the tournament in Rio and beat Albert Ramos-Vinola, among others, on his way to the round of 16.

For his successes, which also included three Challenger wins, he was awarded the

honored.

This was won by Alexander Zverev in 2015 and Rafael Nadal in 2003, among others. As the youngest qualifier since Novak Djokovic, he made it into the main draw at the Australian Open in 2021 and survived his first round match.

Then the Masters 1000 tournament in Miami should come: The victory was the Spaniard's third title on the ATP tour after Umag 2021 and Rio de Janeiro 2022 and the first in a Masters tournament.

In addition, the 18-year-old was in the semi-finals in Indian Wells 2022 before Miami, where he just lost out in three sets against superstar Rafael Nadal (4: 6, 6: 4, 3: 6). 

Carlos Alcaraz – his sporting background

Carlos Alcaraz is trained by ex-professional Juan Carlos Ferrero, with whom he has been working since 2018.

The former world number one was not in Florida due to the death of his father, but he made it to the final.

“Juan Carlos is a very important person for me.

He's not just a coach, he's also a friend - so I can talk to him about anything," Alcaraz said.

The big goal before the start of the French Open was to get into the top ten in the world rankings.

He was able to achieve this goal weeks earlier by winning the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona: On April 25, 2022, he finished 9th in the ATP ranking for the first time in his career.

Coach Juan Carlos Ferrero is confident that his protégé will soon achieve further career highlights, as Alcaraz's best surface is clay and the clay court season is now beginning.

The development of the playful, baseline, strong forehand and mentally stable Spaniard also suggests that he has not yet reached the end of his career ladder: "He is very, very advanced for his age.

But of course he hasn't finished his training yet” (Juan Carlos Ferrero).

His style of play is surprisingly diverse for a player his age.

This includes, among other things

• his tremendously hard hitting from the baseline

  
  
  

  , his high-risk tennis

  
  
  

  , the variation of pace, spin and angle

  
  
  

  , the double-handed backhand

  
  
  

  that stepped in, and the soulful, seamless scattering of drop shots

Carlos Alcaraz – not everyone knows that about the young star

• As a 12-year-old, Alcaraz was signed by the marketing giant IMG.

  IMG man Albert Molina, who also promoted Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer or Nicolas Almagro, is responsible for him.

  
  
  

  Alcaraz signed his first contract with Babolat in 2013 - aged just ten.

  He played with the same racquet model (Pure Aero; ed.) for nine years and only recently switched to the precision-oriented model "Pure Aero VS".

  
  
  

  In 2017, at just 14 years old, he got his first point for the ATP world rankings - something that not even Rafael Nadal had managed at the time.

  
  
  

  In 2019 he defeated first Gleb Sakharov (ATP 267) and then Pedro Martinez (ATP 140) at the Challenger tournament in Murcia.

  This made Alcaraz the first player in over ten years to defeat a top 200 player as a 15-year-old.

  
  
  

  At the US Open 2021, data from the Hawkeye computer-aided system showed that Carlos Alcaraz thundered individual balls over the net at up to 125 km/h with his forehand, and even faster with his backhand.

  
  
  

  With his victory at the ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro, he broke the top 20 in the world rankings for the first time in 2022 - as the youngest player since Andrej Medvedev in 1993.

  
  
  

  "I was more nervous then than before the game," said Alcaraz after receiving a call from Spanish king Felipe after his win in Miami.

  "It's quite exciting when the King of Spain congratulates you on the hard work you put in every day.

  I never expected the king to call.”

  
  
  

  “A historic moment for you, Carlitos,” tweeted Alcaraz role model Rafael Nadal after the young Spaniard's victory at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

  "Many more victories will follow." 

  
  
  

  Nadal's prognosis: "He will develop into one of the best players in the world.

  Also because he still has so much time.”

  
  
  

  On the same date as Rafael Nadal (April 25, 2002 or April 25, 2005), after the same tournament (Barcelona) and at the same age (18) as Nadal, Alcaraz moved into the top ten of the ATP world rankings for the first time this season a.

  
  
  

  Why does he like to hold his index finger to his temple after important points?

  To also signal to the opponents: It's all in your head.

  
  
  

  Alcaraz likes to watch films privately.

  His favorite actor is Will Smith, his favorite movie: Rocky Balboa.