Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (Spanish: [ˈkaɾlos alkaˈɾaθ ˈɣaɾfja]; born 5 May 2003) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2022 and 2025. Alcaraz has won 26 ATP Tour–level singles titles, including seven majors and eight Masters titles. He is the youngest man to complete a Career Grand Slam in singles.

Alcaraz began his tennis career in 2018 at age 14. He broke into the top 100 of the rankings in May 2021, and ended that year ranked No. 32 after reaching the US Open quarterfinals. In 2022, Alcaraz won his first major title at the US Open, becoming the youngest man and the first male teenager in the Open Era to reach world No. 1, at 19 years, 4 months and 7 days old, and finished the year as the youngest year-end No. 1 in ATP rankings history.

Alcaraz claimed his second major title at Wimbledon in 2023, defeating seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the final. In 2024, he completed the Channel Slam by winning both the French Open and Wimbledon titles, which he followed with a silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He claimed his fifth and sixth major titles in 2025, defeating Jannik Sinner in the final of the French Open as well as the US Open. In 2026, Alcaraz won the Australian Open, becoming the youngest man in history to complete the Career Grand Slam, at 22 years, 8 months and 27 days old.

Early and personal life

Carlos Alcaraz Garfia was born on 5 May 2003, in El Palmar, Murcia, Spain, to parents Carlos Alcaraz González and Virginia Garfia Escandón. Alcaraz has one older brother, Álvaro, and two younger brothers, Sergio and Jaime.

Alcaraz started playing tennis at the age of four at the Real Sociedad Club de Campo de Murcia, where his father was a tennis coach and club administrator. His mother worked as a sales assistant at IKEA. Alcaraz's father had played tennis but stopped pursuing a professional career as a teenager, as he could not afford it. In 2013, at age 10, Alcaraz signed his first contract with Babolat. After watching him compete at age 11, IMG agent Albert Molina recognized Carlos as a standout talent and sought to persuade his parents to work with him; his father ultimately agreed when Carlos was 12.

Alcaraz is frequently accompanied to tournaments by his father and by his brother Álvaro, who works as his hitting partner and assistant coach. During the tennis off-season, he lives at his parents' home in Murcia. His friends and family call him "Carlitos" or "Charly". He is Catholic, and has received blessings from priests before important tournaments.

Junior career

At the age of 10, Alcaraz competed outside Spain for the first time at the under-10 World Championship in Croatia, where he lost in the final. That same year, he became an official member of the Babolat team, later joining the brand's international roster at age 13.

In 2015, Alcaraz won the under-12 division of the Rafa Nadal Tour Masters, and the following year captured the competition's under-14 title.

In 2017, Alcaraz enjoyed a breakthrough season at the under-14 level. He won the XIV Taça Internacional Maia Jovem, defeating Daniel Rincón in the final, and later captured the Babolat Cup. That summer, he helped Spain win the 14-and-under European Summer Cup and was part of the Spanish team that finished runner-up to Switzerland at the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals.

Alcaraz continued his rise in 2018. In July, he won the Dutch Junior Open, defeating Filip Kolasinski in the final, and weeks later captured the European 16-and-under Championship by defeating Elmer Møller. Later that year at the Junior Davis Cup in Budapest, he played a key role in Spain's title run, saving match point while trailing against Harold Mayot in singles before returning to win the decisive doubles match after France had taken an early lead.

In March 2019, Alcaraz won the J300 Villena, defeating Illya Beloborodko in the final, and was ranked No. 1 on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour during the year. As a junior, he achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 22.

Professional career

2018–2020: Pro debut

In February 2018, aged 14, Alcaraz played his first professional tennis event as a qualifier at the Spain F5 ITF Futures in Murcia. He knocked out second seed and world No. 292 Federico Gaio in the first round, and proceeded to reach the quarterfinals. He collected his first two ATP points from this tournament, and entered the rankings as world No. 1414 on 26 February 2018.

In April 2019, at the age of 15, Alcaraz made his Challenger debut at the JC Ferrero Challenger in Villena, after receiving an invitation. He won his first round match against a 17-year old Jannik Sinner, who was on a sixteen-match winning streak. With this victory, Alcaraz became the first player born in 2003 to win a Challenger match. He was defeated in three sets by eighth seed Lukáš Rosol in the second round. One week later at the Murcia Open, he defeated fifth seed and world No. 140 Pedro Martínez in the second round, becoming the first Spanish player since Rafael Nadal to beat a top-200 opponent at age 15. Alcaraz went on to win four Challenger titles, three of them before the age of 18. He was the first player born in 2003 to reach a Challenger title match.

In February 2020, at the age of 16, Alcaraz made his ATP main-draw debut at the Rio Open after receiving a wild card for the singles main draw. He defeated world No. 41 Albert Ramos Viñolas in a marathon three-setter that lasted three hours and 37 minutes. Alcaraz became the first player born in 2003 to win an ATP Tour match, and also achieved this feat before anyone born in 2002. He was defeated in the second round by Federico Coria.

In September 2020, aged 17, Alcaraz played his first qualifying round at a major tournament at the postponed French Open. He held two match points to defeat Aleksandar Vukic in straight sets, but ended up losing in three.

2021: First ATP title, Next Gen champion

Alcaraz made his debut in the main draw of a major tournament as a successful qualifier at the 2021 Australian Open. He was the youngest man to qualify for the tournament since Novak Djokovic in 2005. As the main draw of the Australian Open was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alcaraz played the Great Ocean Road Open in early February, where he was defeated by Thiago Monteiro. In his first main draw match at the Australian Open, Alcaraz defeated fellow qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets. He was the only teenager in the draw to progress past the first round, and the first person born in 2003 to win a match at a major. In the second round, Alcaraz was defeated by Mikael Ymer.

Alcaraz entered the qualifying rounds of the Open Occitanie, where he was defeated by Tallon Griekspoor. At his first clay court tournament of the season, the Gran Canaria Challenger II, Alcaraz was knocked out by Marco Trungelliti in the round of 16. Alcaraz made his debut at the Mexican Open as a wildcard, but was knocked out by eventual champion Alexander Zverev in the first round. Alcaraz was given another wildcard into the Miami Open, where he was knocked out in the first round by Emil Ruusuvuori. This was his first appearance at a Masters 1000 tournament.

Alcaraz returned to clay at the Andalucía Open with another wildcard. He defeated Nikola Milojevic, Feliciano Lopez, and third seed Casper Ruud to make the deepest ATP tournament run of his career. He lost to compatriot Jaume Munar in the semifinal. Alcaraz received another wildcard into the Barcelona Open, and was knocked out in the first round by Frances Tiafoe. Alcaraz then entered the Estoril Open as a qualifier, and lost to sixth seed Marin Cilic in the first round.

Alcaraz was handed another wildcard at the Madrid Open, the second Masters-level tournament of his career. He defeated Adrian Mannarino in the first round in straight sets, bagelling him in the second set. This made Alcaraz the youngest match winner in the tournament's history, breaking a record set by Rafael Nadal in 2004. He then met Nadal for their first career meeting, and lost to him in two sets. This was the day of Alcaraz's eighteenth birthday. Alcaraz then entered the Challenger Oeiras III as an unseeded player, and defeated Facundo Bagnis in the final to claim the fourth Challenger title of his career. Following this tournament, he rose from 114th to 94th in the rankings to enter the top 100 on 24 May 2021. He became the youngest player inside the ATP top 100, as well as the youngest inside the top 500.

Alcaraz qualified for the French Open with ease and made it to the third round of the main draw, where he was defeated by Jan-Lennard Struff. He was the youngest man to reach the third round at Roland Garros in twenty nine years, and the youngest to do so at any major since Nadal in 2004. Alcaraz then made his debut at Wimbledon, where he received a wildcard. In his first ATP match on grass, he defeated Yasutaka Uchiyama in the first five-set match of his career. He was defeated in the second round in straight sets by world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev.