No escaping Alcaraz: why teenage sensation could be next big thing

For over a decade, men’s tennis has been searching for new stars to follow up the dominance of its big three; Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. New generations have risen and fallen, waves of hype behind some promising young players have long sputtered out, while other extremely talented players have simply not measured up to their dominance. Deep into their 30s, Nadal and Djokovic have remained the safest bet to win most grand slam titles in recent years.

In the twilight of their careers, however, a new player has arrived who has positioned himself to succeed more than any other before him, the Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz. Ever since he won his first ATP challenger match aged 15, Alcaraz has had eyes on his tennis and expectations on his shoulders.

Alcaraz grew up in El Palmar, a neighbourhood in Murcia, southern Spain, and he began to play tennis at the Real Sociedad Club de Campo de Murcia where his father, Carlos Alcaraz Gonzalez, was director of the tennis academy. Carlos Alcaraz Sr was a modest professional himself, reaching a career high of 963 before retiring at only 20 due to a lack of finance. He has cultivated a tennis-playing family; Alcaraz’s 10-year-old brother, Jaime Alcaraz Garfia, is a promising young player in his own right who recently competed in the IMG Future Stars under-12 tournament in Greece. He has two other siblings; Alvaro, his older brother, and his younger brother Sergio.

In 2018, Alcaraz moved to the JC Ferrero Equelite Sport Academy, where he continues to live and is trained by Juan Carlos Ferrero, the Spanish former world No 1 who won the French Open in 2003, just a month after Alcaraz was born and right before Federer and Nadal began to dominate. With one of Spain’s