Happy tennis, serious name - how history-maker Alcaraz clinched career Grand Slam

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A painting of a young Carlos Alcaraz on the walls of his old school in Murcia

It was Molina who would link Alcaraz up with a man who came to be ubiquitous in his early success. He invited Juan Carlos Ferrero, the Spanish former world number one who won the 2003 French Open, to watch him. Alcaraz played a tournament at Ferrero's academy and, in Ferrero's own words: "I saw something different."

He told BBC Radio 5 Live in 2024: "You could see he was more dynamic than the other players. He wanted to be a professional and the parents and I talked about how he needed to go there [to Ferrero's academy], sleep there and practise as the others players do."

In 2018, Alcaraz moved to Villena to train under Ferrero, who had spent an underwhelming seven months coaching then world number four Alexander Zverev. Ferrero turned down other offers to become the youngster's full-time coach. Alcaraz would come to regard Ferrero as a second father.

Some coaches would try to change Alcaraz's natural game and reel in his tendency for the unorthodox. Ferrero did not. He wanted Alcaraz to "have joy on the court", knowing that when Alcaraz felt his best, the tennis would follow.

"I always try to play happy tennis," Alcaraz wrote in TNT's Players Voice, external in 2023."I consider myself a happy person off the court, so I try to play that way."

However they defined it, it worked. He made his debut on the Challenger circuit - the rung below the main ATP Tour - as a 15-year-old in 2019. He hoovered up four titles and beat another notable teenage prodigy named Jannik Sinner in Alicante. He became the first player born in 2003 to win a match at that level.

It was the first of many records.

Alcaraz made his ATP Tour debut as a 16-year-old at the Rio Open. At 406th in the world, he was a massive underdog against compatriot and 41st-ranked Albert Ramos Vinolas. But there were glimpses, even then, of what Alcaraz would become.

The forehand was big, set up by the top-spin backhand. The approaches to the net were confident, the movement smooth, the ability to get the crowd behind him apparent even then. On show too were the lapses in concentration, none more egregious than a double fault in the second set that sent the match to a decider.

Alcaraz quickly found himself 3-0 down in the third. Momentum - and physicality - was with his more experienced opponent. But Alcaraz found the burst of energy that five years later would propel him to an astonishing French Open title. He saved three break points, reeled off five games a row and won the deciding tie-break to claim victory at 03:00 local time.

"I always have positive thoughts," Alcaraz said afterwards. "I always think I can win, no matter who the opponent is.

"If you don't think you can win, you shouldn't go on the court."

Breakthrough after breakthrough followed. He first gained attention at the 2021 US Open, with victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas making him the youngest man to beat a top-three player at a major.

A year later, on his way to the Madrid title, he became the only man to beat Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic back-to-back on clay. The inevitable Slam triumph followed in New York, Alcaraz claiming the number one ranking to boot.

By the time he won Wimbledon in 2023, ending Djokovic's dominance of Centre Court in five thrilling sets, Alcaraz was a global superstar.

Alcaraz once said he feared tennis becoming an "obligation" - that it would one day become a grind, rather than a fight to be enjoyed.

Not all of Alcaraz's career has been plain sailing. He was left in tears after losing the Olympic final to Djokovic in Paris in 2024 and smashed a racquet in a shock loss to Gael Monfils a month later. A grim run was capped by a listless second-round exit at the US Open weeks later.

When it is all working, Alcaraz's tennis is a thing of beauty. The drop shots come seemingly out of nowhere and are particularly mesmeric on the clay, barely spinning over the net to send a pop of red dust up into the air. The shots he makes while running into the corners should not, by rights, be landing in. But they do, drawing gasps from the crowd.

When it is not quite clicking, it can look awful. Because of the carefree way Alcaraz plays, it can be misconstrued as him not caring. Alcaraz's choices on the court can drive certain commentators to distraction. Why is he going for the volley when his opponent is there waiting? Why is he going for another highlight-reel winner when the safer choice is there?

But that is the way Alcaraz plays. That is his happy tennis. He does not play just for himself. He plays for the crowd, the fans, the moments that go viral on social media. He draws you in with the fist pumps, the point to the ear to make more noise, the ball zipping through the court faster than your eye can keep up with.

Former world number one Andre Agassi, commentating for the BBC at Wimbledon, put it best. "It's like Alcaraz has the touch of [Roger] Federer, the court coverage of Novak and the RPMs of Nadal," he said. "I'm so glad I'm just watching instead of playing when I see somebody like Alcaraz."

For childhood coach Navarro, he takes pride from Alcaraz's behaviour. "How humble he is, that everyone loves around the world," he said. "Nothing in him has changed since he was a child. I wanted him to be the same Carlitos and I feel very proud of it."

Alcaraz's practice sessions at Slams always draw a crowd - and that is the way he likes it. At Wimbledon, he opted to practise on the outside courts, rather than on the official practice site that is tucked away from spectators. People stood four rows deep, crowded around the stairs and hanging over the hoardings to catch a glimpse.

Those who had scrambled to get seats on were treated to the full Alcaraz show, the Spaniard laughing and joking with the crowd and trying out the occasional trick shot.

There was a smile for everyone as, escorted by security, he walked through walls of fans around the grounds. Every "good luck Carlos" was greeted by a "thank you".

The attention must be exhausting, particularly during an emotionally-taxing Slam, but Alcaraz thrives on it.

At Wimbledon, he ate at a local Italian restaurant just down the road from the grounds. A photograph of him with the owner hangs above the bar. During the meal, Alcaraz posed for photos with anyone who asked and did the same when he left.

At the US Open, before his fourth-roundmatch against Arthur Rinderknech, Alcaraz high-fived every person on the front row, and after his victory, signed every oversized tennis ball that was handed to him.

On court, he lives every moment. He laughs in disbelieving joy at his opponent's shot-making. He will cup his ear to the crowd, urging them to make more noise, drawing them in all the time.

Alcaraz is popular with his peers and rivals. Facundo Bagnis described him as "an even better person than he is a player", while legend Bjorn Borg said he was "surprised" by "what a great guy" he is. It could be down to the familiarity that Alcaraz keeps within his team. Ferrero was a constant in his life for years until their surprising split at the end of 2025 and his family are never far away.

After his quarter-final victory over Alex de Minaur in Melbourne, Alcaraz said some players had joked he could "play a football match with your team". Brother, dad and uncle were all in his support box, along with his long-time agent and fitness coaches.

"I'm just really proud and really happy to see my dad because experiencing and living these kind of things, it was his dream when he was playing tennis," Alcaraz said. "I'm really happy to see him making his dream."

His progress in Melbourne - a Slam at which he had never gone beyond the quarter-finals before - was serene. Backed by a tweaked serve, he did not drop a set until a gritty semi-final in which he was racked by full body cramps and taken to the limit by Zverev.

He was not the overwhelming crowd favourite in the final against Djokovic and was blasted off court in the first set. But Alcaraz showed real maturity to stay focused and turn the match around, ultimately overcoming the greatest men's player of all time to achieve history.

More records and majors will undoubtedly come. But while he takes his work seriously, tennis will never be the defining thing in Alcaraz's life.

"I want to sit at the table with the Big Three," Alcaraz said in his Netflix documentary. But from what I've experienced, I'd choose happiness over massive success.

"Because happiness is already success."

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Alcaraz with his brother and father after his Australian Open win