Carlos Alcaraz is built for greatness on and off the court
Carlos Alcaraz returns a ball to Lloyd Harris of during their second-round U.S. Open match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Wednesday. Credit: AFP via Getty Images/Corey Sipkin
His face is everywhere.
Rolex. Louis Vuitton. BMW. Calvin Klein. Luxury brands with pockets full of dollars seem to be stumbling over themselves to get a piece of Carlos Alcaraz. It seems that everyone wants to be a part of the next big thing, everyone wants to be associated with the most dynamic and exciting player to come around in a generation.
Alcaraz is young. He’s new. And he’s soon to be very, very rich. The 20-year-old defending U.S. Open champion has the potential to become one of the wealthiest athletes on the planet. Bloomberg projected this week that he will be the game's next billionaire star, and with inflation he certainly had the potential to eclipse Roger Federer, the recently retired icon who is worth $1.1 billion.
If Alcaraz were a different player, the big question would be: Can he handle it? Tennis is famous for eating its young. Can Alcaraz continue to play his incredibly emotional, aggressive game as the pressures of life and competition multiply?
Those who have studied Alcaraz on and off the court believe he has the tools to stay at the top of the game for years to come.
Much has changed since Alcaraz won his first U.S. Open here last year, becoming the youngest player ever to finish No. 1 in the rankings. In addition to adding a bunch of zeros to his bank statement, he also added a second Grand Slam title, beating Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in one of the most absorbing men’s finals in decades.
Yet, much has remained the same for Alcaraz, who defeated South African Lloyd Harris, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4), in a second-round match at the U.S. Open on Thursday.
Alcaraz still acts like someone who can’t believe how lucky he is to be doing something he loves. Late in the third set when Harris hit a shot past him at the net, Alcaraz reached across and congratulated him.
“He's great for the game, and he just has that kind of style now, that kind of athletic tennis that he's a showman, he's a tremendous athlete, shot maker, personality on the court,” ESPN analyst Chris Evert said of Alcaraz last week.
Alcaraz still lives like a teenager instead of a multi-million-dollar budding corporation. Between tournaments, he still stays with his parents in a flat above a kebab shop in Murcia, Spain. Before each match, he likes to summon his inner Rocky by playing three songs from the movie “Rocky” with his favorite being Eye of the Tiger.
Alcaraz, who had never played on Arthur Ashe before last season, still gets a kick from the feeling he gets walking into the stadium. He no longer takes selfies of himself as he did when he first entered last year, but it’s clear that it means something to him to be back in the place his star was launched last season.
Perhaps the only question concerning Alcaraz is if he can keep up his explosive, die-hard attack without it taking a toll on his body.
ESPN analyst John McEnroe scoffed at the notion Alcaraz should consider changing anything about his style, though he said he needs to take care of his body to remain healthy.
“I think the way he plays is absolutely spectacular,” McEnroe said last week. “Every now and then — he’s 20 years old — he makes a decision that you think, well, maybe he could have played it a little safer…..Come on. This guy is amazing. Electric is this guy.”
“To think that you would want to tinker — the guy can do everything. He's the most complete 20-year-old I've ever seen, and that includes Novak and Roger and [Rafael Nadal].”
That’s some pretty heady praise, putting him ahead the tennis trinity who ruled the game for a generation. The real question is whether the 20-year-old Novak is a more complete player than the 36-year-old Djokovic, the player everyone hopes he plays in the Open final.
Stay tuned.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
