This was supposed to be tennis hell. The reign of the Big Three is winding down, and it should be sad, sad, sad. Roger Federer is retired, watching Wimbledon from the royal box in an immaculate khaki suit. Rafael Nadal, injured and absent, faintly clings to the dream of a final rodeo on the red dirt in 2024. Novak Djokovic remains a fearsome champ at age 36, but he’s starting to look lonely, like the last senior stuck on campus. Carlos Alcaraz Net Worth
This prospect used to terrify tennis fans. The sport spent two decades spoiled rotten by a historic trio with a combined 65 major tournament titles—23 for Djokovic, 22 for Nadal, and 20 for Federer—their epic battles seared into our memories like children’s birthdays. The top of the men’s game had never been so heavenly, but when the Big Three finally wrapped it up? Yikes. The sport’s next generation looked unready for the job, barely able to mount a challenge. Tennis heaven was going to decay into an arid desert of uninspired also-rans.
There was no limit to how dull it would get. We were all going to wind up watching pickleball. Then The Kid showed up and changed everything. CARLOOOOS!!! CARLOOOOS! CARLIIIIIIIIITOS! It is early August, just three weeks from the start of the 2023 U.S. Open, and in the upper deck of Sobeys Stadium in Toronto, 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz—who reportedly has a net worth of $14 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth—the most exciting player in tennis, the men’s world No. 1 when we meet, takes in the view below. I thought the newly crowned Wimbledon champ might be able to sit up here unnoticed and catch a bit of practice from a fellow competitor, the Canadian star Félix Auger-Aliassime, but no such luck.
VAMOS CARLIIIIIIIIITOS! Alcaraz has been discovered. Fans in the stadium’s lower bowl crane their necks skyward, trying to get a look. By now, Alcaraz’s cropped, first-day-of-school haircut is as recognizable as his wicked forehand. They begin to chant his first name, singsong style.
CAR-LOS! CAR-LOS! CAR-LOS! Alcaraz waves back appreciatively. He is still in phase one of superstardom: the shiny, grateful, almost goofy-happy stage, when he can’t quite believe strangers notice him, shout his name, or start wearing old-school tennis bucket hats because he started wearing old-school tennis bucket hats.
Here are a few things Carlos Alcaraz revealed to WSJ. Magazine…
Alcaraz on the attention, and the bucket hat craze he started:
“I love it,” he says of bucket-hat mania, which began at Wimbledon when he grabbed one from a Nike display. “It’s something new for me.”
Alcaraz on this time in his life:
“This has been a dream for me since I was a little kid,” he explains. If, like me, you own jeans older than Carlos Alcaraz, this observation sounds funny, but for him, it’s been a longer road. “Obviously, it’s my job,” he says. “But I am enjoying this time.” Carlos Alcaraz Net Worth
Alcaraz on his swift rise to the top of the game:
“It was faster than I thought,” Alcaraz tells me.“I did not expect to win a Slam at age 20. I did not expect to win Wimbledon. Everything came so, so fast.”
Alcaraz on Djokovic’s comment comparing Alcaraz’s on-court maturity to Federer’s, his competitiveness to Nadal’s, and his body-sliding defensive skills and backhand to his own. “He’s basically got the best of all three worlds,” Djokovic said:
“Crazy,” Alcaraz says, when I ask him about Djokovic’s compliment. “He’s played with the best, with Rafa, with Roger. You don’t expect that.”
Alcaraz on his favorite pre-match song:
Alcaraz wants a long run. At one point, I ask him what his favorite song is to listen to before matches. “Eye of the Tiger,” he says, referring to Survivor’s Camaro-tastic Rocky anthem from 1982.
Juan Carlos Ferrero (Alcaraz’s coach) on preparing Alcaraz for long matches:
“To stay mentally active during long matches is something every player should practice,” Ferrero tells me. Though Alcaraz is still adapting to the five-set grind, “We work to be ready for all kinds of situations during the matches.”
Ferrero on keeping Alcaraz on track:
They intend to stay careful with his schedule and training, trying to keep his mind and body fresh. “This is the hardest thing to manage when winning a lot,” Ferrero says. “Keeping him motivated is important.”
Paul Annacone (Federer coach and Tennis Channel analyst) on Alcaraz:
“The most complete player I’ve seen at that age,” says Paul Annacone, coach to Federer and others, now an analyst at the Tennis Channel. “He seems to have the perfect disposition to handle this: loves the game, loves to compete, yet knows you don’t always win…just a remarkable young talent.”
Brad Gilbert (ESPN analyst currently coaching Coco Gauff) on Alcaraz:
Even with his ferocious tools, Alcaraz’s greatest skills might be mental—“his ability to strategize to the opponent,”
NBA star Jimmy Butler (friend of Alcaraz) on Alcaraz’s style:
“Incredible to witness in person. He never gives up on any ball, he’ll dive, he’ll do something miraculous just to try to get the ball over the net and win a point.”
“I want to yell while I’m sitting in the stands,” says Jimmy Butler. “I understand you can’t, but I want to yell, ‘Don’t worry—we’re never out for this!’ He’s going to try to get to every ball.”
Billie Jean King on Alcaraz as successor the Big Three (Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic):
Tennis pioneer Billie Jean King thinks Alcaraz isn’t merely the successor to the Big Three—he’s their spiritual baby. “He’s seen the very best of the best, his whole life,” King explains. “He knows nothing else but those three.”
Tommy Paul, US Pro, on playing Alcaraz:
“It’s crazy how fast he plays,” says Tommy Paul, a US pro who’s had memorable battles with Alcaraz. “If you hit one weak ball, you’re in massive trouble.”
Paul on Alcaraz’s drop shot:
“Lethal,” says Tommy Paul. Carlos Alcaraz Net Worth
Caitlin Thompson (publisher and co-founder of the tennis media and lifestyle brand Racquet) on Alcaraz:
“He is sui generis. The fact that they didn’t manufacture him is so beautiful…we haven’t seen anything like it. He’s like a new strain, you know?”
Check out more photos…
Read the full article here.
Photos: Theo Wenner for WSJ. Magazine.
For the latest in fashion, lifestyle, and culture, follow us on Instagram @StyleRave_
—Read Also
