A moment before Carlos Alcaraz (El Palmar, Murcia; 22 years old) is about to answer, members of his team enter the locker room and dance a kind of conga while the world number one laughs out loud. One of them, coach Samuel López, jokes and tries to lay him down on a couple of pillows: “So, then, we have to rest!” “Well, of course! And then you want me to go to the hotel straight away… Come on, come on, go now.” ball!”. The tennis player appears happy, as well as serene. The wheel is still turning. The competition is not over yet, he remembers, and he has two other sweet prizes at hand: this Masters Cup which will be resolved over the weekend and the final final of the Davis Cup, scheduled for Tuesday at the Bologna Fair.
Shortly before, his father, also Carlos, paraded in front of the ranch, always polite and discreet, at the same time enthusiastic about his son’s infinite rise. It’s no different. Alcaraz, a young racket genius, is the best tennis player of the year, the one who has achieved the most victories (70) and trophies (8); also the most dominant, according to the classification. For the second time in his still short career, he will end the year at the top of the rankings. In the space of just five years her life took a radical turn: from citizen to historian. However, one can imagine that he keeps his feet firmly planted on the ground and that fame has not upset his and his family’s normality.
The humble boy is still there. This Saturday (8.30pm, Movistar+) he will face Alexander Zverev in the semi-final, but first he receives and responds to EL PAÍS with his usual big voice and reveals his shyness, despite the fact that on the pitch he behaves with unparalleled impudence and confidence. That rubber doll is heavenly. Unique, they say. The big annual argument with Jannik Sinner has finally been resolved in his favor. He was dressed to receive the award, but now he’s wearing a T-shirt, baggy pants and futuristic clogs. It exudes authenticity and sensitivity.
Ask. Explain this to the earthlings, please. How does it all look from up there, being number one?
Answer. In the end, number one is number one and classification does not deceive; It means you were the best all year, but the reality is different. Even if you’re there, you can lose to anyone or in the first round, because that’s how it goes. The ranking shows one thing, but the reality of this sport is very different; Of course, when you’re at the top you feel great (stretches the vowel) and seeing me there is incredible, even if I feel like I still have to improve in many things.
Q. How much is talent and how much is sacrifice worth?
R. Talent helps, but work weighs much more. If you think about it, basically there were many more players who made it to the end because they worked much harder, compared to players who were talented and then didn’t do the work that was needed. Working hard is the most important thing, giving your best every day. This surpasses talent. I think that in my case in all these years there has been more work than talent, even if the latter has not been lacking (laughs mischievously).
Q. You must not have even thought about wearing the crown, like Lamine Yamal. What do you think? Does your generation sometimes try too hard?
The crown of Lamine? I can’t finish watching it; “I like it when other people do it, but I don’t feel it.”
R. No, no, I can’t finish watching it… But for the fact that I don’t feel like the best in the world. I like seeing this kind of thing from other people, but I wouldn’t do it because I don’t feel like it.
Q. Do you know how much a coffee costs?
R. Yes of course!
Q. I’m telling you this because in just four years your life has changed radically… To what extent?
R. Exactly, but I know because every time I come home it’s like I come back to reality. That’s when I go back to being the same as I always was, the one who goes to the canteen and has a coffee with friends, or has breakfast or lunch with them. I place a lot of value on this kind of thing, so I have this dual perspective.
Q. I also told him because his father says that he should continue to take the 2 euro one, that it is not necessary to take the 5 euro one. Do you know what I’m talking about? Does it apply?
R. I apply it, I apply it. It’s true that many times I don’t like controversy, confronting someone because they make me pay 6 or 7 euros and saying it’s a scam, so I pay it, but knowing that it’s not normal. Coffee costs 1.20 or 1.50, which is what it really costs now, equal to what it is worth 7. This is clear to me.
Q. Are you still sleeping in that 80 bed?
R. Yes, they are still there, in the same bed shown in the documentary (Carlos Alcaraz: My way). That’s still my place.
Q. Is he happy?
R. Yes, I would say yes. Right now I have everything.
Q. More or less than before, when I ate kebab with friends in the square?
R. Mmm… Same. In the end they are different situations, but I still have those moments where I come home and have dinner anywhere or with my friends. Now I have the opportunity to go to the best places in the world and be recognized, but there’s also that part of coming home, so I would say I’m the same and just as happy.
Q. Is this celebrity life how you imagined it?
R. It’s a lot harder than people think.
Q. Do you think people idealize you a lot from the outside?
R. Indeed. As a child you have an idea, because in the end you stay with what you see on TV, so you dream of playing on the big fields, getting results and meeting wonderful people. It’s all part of the game and it’s great, but people don’t see what’s behind the scenes. Excited children or young people don’t see it, and by this I don’t mean to say that it’s a good or a bad thing, but once you arrive everything surprises you: the invisible training, what you have to do after the matches, the press, the pressure, the nerves… All this is there, but you don’t feel it until you experience it. I would say it’s a lot harder than we think, but it also has a beautiful part.
There are many people who don’t believe it because of how I express myself and how I sound, but I’m very shy.
Q. And what is harder to deal with, the rivalries, travel and schedule or the daily monotony?
R. It includes everything, even if it would eliminate rivals. The question of analyzing your rivals or your approach to the game is difficult, but at the same time it is beautiful. I would focus more on the fact that you have to travel week after week, that you have a few days to adapt to the place or that you have to quickly pack and unpack your bags to move; In the end you never get used to a place and when you start you just have to leave. Being away from family or friends is difficult, and of course there is monotony; It’s always game, training, game, training, game, training… All of this eventually becomes a wheel that can tire you out a lot.
Q. It is a vital decision, nothing more and nothing less. Imagine the next 15 years like this, as is almost requested from the outside?
R. Ultimately we try not to think about 15 years from now, when I’ll be 37, but rather move forward year by year. I hope to be in the same place in five years, and I don’t mean number one, but to have the same desire, the same motivation and the same vitality when it comes to going to tournaments; We hope that this will happen within five years and when it comes, we will think about the next five. We have to proceed little by little and I hope I can resist physically and mentally to be able to have a very, very long career, even if for this I have to start taking care of myself right now to continue on the circuit being the most old possible.
Q. The other day a former player asked him in a press conference whether he had a girlfriend or not. Do you understand the interest it generates, that so many people want to know what it’s like and everything it does?
A. My life has been exposed a lot, so I need to know how to deal with it. However, it is true that there are many things that should remain private, because it is important to know how to distinguish what you can and cannot show to others. Honestly, I’m very natural and I show many things, but there are others that are better to keep to yourself to feel safe and calm, even if it’s a small bubble in which to feel safe; that not everyone can have access to such information or express their opinion on such things. In the end, whether positive or negative, everything has a lot of influence.
Q. He handles everything very naturally. From the outside you get the impression that what you see is what really exists. Is that so?
R. Yes, I’m like that. Both for better and for worse, because there are always people who don’t like you, and it’s normal, at least they know what my way of being is. That’s how I am and I don’t force a character or put on a face that I don’t feel like putting on. This is my way of being and living life, of focusing on everything; It’s true that with friends from town, the ones I’ve always had, I can behave a little differently, but it’s normal. In general, what you see is what they are.
Q. Praises rain down on him day after day. Don’t you sometimes feel overwhelmed by constantly being told how great you are?
R. A little, really. There are many people who don’t believe it because of how I express myself and how I sound or speak in front of 15,000 or 20,000 people, but deep down I’m a very reserved person… No, more than reserved, I’m very shy.
Q. Are you shy?
R. Yes! (laughs) Do you see it? I’m very awkward, so when so many people praise you, you like it, but at the same time I don’t know how to handle it.
Q. Tell me, what does your ideal day look like?
R. It is very difficult to plan it, because today I can tell you one, tomorrow another and in three months a different one. Every moment has its place. Right now I would tell you that I like to go and play golf in the morning, to relax, and then go out to eat with family or friends and, maybe, later go out for a drink with them. Even playing board games with them or mine, without leaving the house. For me, something related to staying at home is ideal.
There are always people who don’t like you, and that’s normal. But for better or worse, that’s who I am.
Q. What worries you? What are you afraid of? Because you will, right?
R. Especially personal and family issues, because I give a lot of importance to being happy and feeling good, and that’s what often scares you the most. It’s what gives me the most. Also not recognizing things as they happen. Tennis is my life and there are a lot of situations where you think a lot of things and feel overwhelmed, and not recognizing what’s really happening or making decisions sometimes overwhelms me.
Q. With so much tennis, I don’t know if he has time to take a look at what the world is like. Pretty mixed, right?
R. Pretty mixed…
Q. Do you like to stay informed or do you prefer to live in this bubble?
R. I’m not someone who gets overwhelmed by information, who informs himself every day, but I like to know what’s happening and how things are going, the world, my country. There are many situations and people’s opinions, so in the end it is very difficult to know what is right or wrong, what is really happening; There are also lies, because in the end many lies are told about many things.
Q. In conclusion, is it possible to sustain this pace and cruising speed next year too?
R. Obviously it’s difficult to have a percentage higher than 90% of victories, eight titles, ten finals… Difficult to maintain it, but we are here to improve and try to match it, even if if it were a little below I don’t think anything would happen… Or vice versa, if it were a little above I don’t think anything would happen… (laughs). The goal is to continue with this consistency and pace and we will work to make this happen.
