At 23 years of age, Carlos Alcaraz has already crafted a legendary career and, barring injuries, he is on track to become one of, if not the greatest player of all time.
The Spaniard burst onto the scene as a teenager during the 2021 ATP season, when he captured his maiden tour-level title in Umag and reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open. From there, he has gone from strength to strength and has clinched seven Grand Slam titles; a tally equal to that of John McEnroe.
With such incredible success at such a young age comes fame, which can often be damaging to athletes in their early years, but not for Alcaraz.
Carlos Alcaraz discusses how he deals with fame in tennis
Asked in an interview on the Vienna Open YouTube channel how he deals with fame, Alcaraz responded: “Well, I just, it comes natural to me, to be honest. I don’t do anything different at all. I just act the way that I am as a person. On the court, off the court, I just try to show myself. I’m not acting like everyone wants to see. Just be myself all the time.
“And yeah, I’m just really happy that people like that. And I think everything you can do as natural as you can do, I think is the best. And for me, I’m trying to think about it, to act like that. And, you know, if people like that, it’s going to be amazing for me.”
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This season, Alcaraz has won three titles, the first of which came at the Australian Open, where he became the youngest player ever to complete the Career Grand Slam. He then went on to win the Qatar Open, but suffered a wrist injury in Barcelona that kept him sidelined for over four months.
Alcaraz returned to the tour at the US Open, where his title defence ended in the quarterfinals with a loss to Ben Shelton. After that, he guided Team Europe to Laver Cup glory and secured his 27th ATP title at the Japan Open.
Carlos Alcaraz picks his highlight of the 2026 season
Picking his favourite moment from the 2026 ATP season, Alcaraz said: “I have had a couple of highlights on and off the court this year. Obviously, at the beginning, you know, achievement there. I took off a few Grand Slams for the first time.
“Winning the Australian Open for the first time is, for me, you know, one of the main highlights of the season, but obviously of the season with the injury that I had being out for four months and a half, I had the chance to do a lot of things off the court, travel a little bit with some friends.
“I could attend the World Cup final, watching Spain win the second World Cup. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. So, yeah, I would pick, you know, those two highlights for me on and off the court.”
Alcaraz is currently ranked third in the world, behind Jannik Sinner and soon-to-be-crowned number one Alexander Zverev.
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