His family, his favorite club, his tattoo, his homeland: the wonderful world of tennis king Carlos Alcaraz

Alcaraz provides many a smile, he always dribbles in rudimentary English. But he does it in such a wonderfully authentic and sympathetic way that he keeps winning points even after the game.

Astonishing: Alcaraz has already become the US Open winner and the youngest world number one in history and he has now won the most important and prestigious trophy in Wimbledon – and yet he still seems a bit clumsy on the big stage at times. At the famous Champions Dinner, where he is honored together with the women’s winner Marketa Vondrousova (24), he says: “Now I’m going back to Murcia to be a normal boy again.”

The region around the southern Spanish city, away from the big metropolises, is home to Carlos Alcaraz Garfia. She is often smiled at in the country, which Alcaraz has often opposed. “Murcia is underrated – because the people have just never been there. It’s nice here with us. We have beaches, mountains, good weather, good food,” says the province’s most famous son.

Alcaraz is from El Palmar. Here he was born, grew up and grew into a world-class player. The second eldest of four brothers, all of whom were introduced to tennis at a young age because their father Carlos Alcaraz Gonzalez was once a tennis professional himself (ranked 963 as the highest ranking) and later opened a tennis academy.

According to the “Sun”, Alcaraz still lives in El Palmar – with Papa Carlos Senior, Mama Virginia and his youngest brother Jaime (11), who is also said to have great talent. The family is said to live in an apartment above a kebab shop, which the British tabloid promptly recognized as a steep template for the “Wimble kebab” pun. Nothing is known about a friend. “Carlitos,” or “Charlie,” as he’s known, told Vogue in February that he was single.

Ferrero made him a “complete player”

Alcaraz was signed by marketing giant IMG when he was just 13 years old. Advisor Albert Molina (52) has been one of his closest companions ever since, as has head coach Juan Carlos Ferrero (43), who was once also number one in the world and has now been in charge of Alcaraz for five years.

Ferrero has managed to polish the diamond in the rough Carlos Alcaraz so that he now shines brightest on the tennis tour. Wimbledon finalist Novak Djokovic (36) said of his conqueror that he combines the powers of Roger Federer (41), Rafael Nadal (37) and himself: “I think he basically has the best of all three worlds. I have never played against someone like him. He’s a complete player.”

Alcaraz masters all shots, he stuns with his crazy projectiles, his explosiveness, the extreme angles, the fine, soulful stop balls. The young man offers glasses – always. This is due to his aggressive, lecherous play.

The longer he has been successful in recent years, the comparisons with compatriot Nadal are becoming more frequent. Alcaraz, who has always cited Federer as his great role model, has always responded the same way: “I’m honored to be compared to him. But I don’t want to be Rafa. I want to write my own story.”

He lives by the motto tattooed on his left forearm. The letter “C” stands for “Cabeza, Corazon, Cojones” three times. So: head, heart, balls. Alcaraz also shows all three things on the field, said Stefanos Tsitsipas (24) in the spring. “He is mentally strong, works extremely hard and his strength, flexibility and speed on the pitch are immense.”

Alcaraz received the three letters from star tattoo artist Joaquin Ganga, who, like him, comes from El Palmar, and other superstars such as basketball legend LeBron James (38) or R&B artists Drake (36) and Chris Brown (34). .

Extravagant clothing style and a Rolex on your arm

Agent Molina also arranged large contracts with A brands at an early stage. Nike ensures that Alcaraz always looks stylish off the pitch. It is not uncommon for him to have a penchant for bright colors. In Madrid he appeared in orange for a media event, in Paris in pink. A Rolex also adorns his wrist; in Wimbledon it is a yellow gold Cosmograph Daytona worth more than 100,000 francs.

This luxury has long been a contentious part of the company, but it also contrasts with the nice boy-next-door image it portrays. To the kid who’s a huge Real Madrid fan, likes to watch the NBA or play golf and can’t say no to a game of chess either – because the board game reminds him so much of tennis: “If you lose your concentration for a while, could have lost the whole game.” Alcaraz likes the challenge. And he just passed what is probably the biggest of his life at Wimbledon with flying colors.