Carlos Alcaraz has been working with sports psychologists since he was a boy. He is afraid of the dark, spiders, horror films. As a child, he practiced with a baseball bat to perfect his swing. Celebrity tattoo artist Joaquín Ganga made his tiny tattoos, which he got after his first Grand Slam triumphs in Paris, Wimbledon and New York. Maria Sharapova, the former drama queen, once had a crush on Juan Carlos Ferrero, his longtime coach (from whom he unexpectedly split last Wednesday). Ferrero’s academy, where he became a champion, is as remote as if it were on the moon. And they had to put away their cell phones there too.
A wide variety of facets flow into the biography “Inside Alcaraz,” which the English journalist Mark Hodgkinson wrote to explore the phenomenon of Carlos Alcaraz. The 22-year-old Spaniard has won six Grand Slam trophies so far and he captivates the audience with his spectacular tennis. Many details paint the picture of a cheerful, family-oriented, dutiful, heartfelt man behind the tennis player who emotionally touches the industry like only the Swiss Roger Federer and the Spaniard Rafael Nadal before. But sometimes you have to laboriously find these details in the 272-page work. Correct InsideUnfortunately, Hodgkinson is not close to the protagonist. This is hardly possible with stars of this size who travel in isolated groups.
The book offers its strongest moments in the passages in which it is not Alcaraz, but his companions – the reserved father Carlos, the loyal brother Álvaro, the strict, sensitive coach and surrogate father Ferrero, the enterprising agent Albert Molina, the caring psychologist Isabel Balaguer – that are illuminated. Each of them shaped the exceptional talent. Alcaraz himself has no breaks in his life, no abused childhood, no bad crises behind him. His athletic game with punches like dynamite, his smile, his energy make up his global appeal and carry spectators, opponents and the media along.
In 2024, Alcaraz collected $42 million, also thanks to fantastic advertising deals
If you like, the recent separation from Ferrero already represents the greatest turbulence in Alcaraz’s career. As things stand, Alcaraz is by no means supposed to have demanded the decision. Rather, Ferrero, 2003 French Open winner and world number one, was at odds with his father, who is also called Carlos, and Molina, an agent at the well-known management agency IMG, during discussions about extending the contract. It is also said to have been about Ferrero’s participation in the prize money from Alcaraz. And how in general the future path of Alcaraz should be managed. It is rumored that Father Alcaraz wants to expand the Carlos Alcaraz Academy in El Palmar, which is in competition with Ferrero’s academy in Villena in the hinterland of Alicante. Plain money and business interests have apparently driven a wedge into this strong group.
Even without the most recent events, the book makes it clear that finances play an important role in a career like Alcaraz’s. Hodgkinson explains how much money it takes to develop talent. IMG great Max Eisenbud even reveals that the management agency didn’t earn a cent from Alcaraz in the first seven years. The dollar has long been rolling. In 2024, Alcaraz collected 42 million, also thanks to famous advertising deals. Not such a bad life story for a friendly, shy boy from El Palmar near Murcia, who grew up in an apartment above a kebab shop (where there is now a beauty salon and a sushi restaurant) and still displays his trophies in his childhood room.
Mark Hodgkinson: Inside Alcaraz. 264 pages. Noble Sports. 24.99 euros.
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