Competing together for just the second time, Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov clinched their first tour-level doubles title as a team on Sunday at the Nordea Open.

The Ecuadorian-Kazakhstani team produced a dominant performance to overcome Rafael Matos and Francisco Cabral 6-2, 6-2 in 76 minutes at the ATP 250 clay-court event in Bastad.

“It is amazing. We are pleased with the performance,” Nedovyesov said. “We didn’t start well but at the end of the day we won 6-2, 6-2, so I am really happy with the performance and looking forward to the next event.”

Escobar and Nedovyesov, who did not drop a set en route to the title, won 77 per cent (20/26) of their first-serve points and broke Cabral and Matos’ serves five times.

“We just formed this team and are feeling very good together. I think it was just a matter of time we won matches in a row,” Escobar said.

Earlier this season, Escobar and Nedovyesov reached the final at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in their first tour-level event as a team, before they lifted the trophy at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Ilkley. Sunday’s victory was Nedovyesov’s first tour-level triumph, while Escobar has now won four titles.

Pedro Cachin captured his first ATP Tour title on Sunday when he overcame Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 3-6, 6-0, 7-5 at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad.

The Argentine combined power with guile throughout the two-hour, 23-minute final, forcing Ramos-Vinolas deep with his explosive groundstrokes before using the drop shot to great effect.

Competing in his first tour-level final, the 28-year-old recovered from squandering a break advantage in the third set, raising his level again deep in the decider to become the fifth first-time champion on the ATP Tour this year.

“In the beginning of the match I was a little nervous and made a few mistakes. It was the first time I had played against a lefty in the tournament but I stayed there,” Cachin said. “I tried to be positive, more aggressive and go to the net. In a final it is difficult to play like this the whole match. I am very, very happy.”

With his victory, Cachin has climbed 41 spots to No. 49 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. The Argentine’s previous career-high was No. 54 last November. He arrived at the event holding a 9-18 on the year, and had only previously made one tour-level quarter-final, at Cordoba in 2019.

Cachin, who was making his debut in Gstaad, did not drop a set en route to the final. He defeated Taro Daniel, Roberto Bautista Agut, Jaume Munar and Hamad Medjedovic before overcoming Ramos-Vinolas in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

The 35-year-old Spaniard Ramos Vinolas, who received a medical timeout in the second set for blisters, was aiming to win his fifth tour-level title.

At just his second attempt, Alex Michelsen is an ATP Tour finalist.

The 18-year-old delivered a confident and commanding display Saturday to see off John Isner 7-6(6), 6-4 at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport, where he will take on Adrian Mannarino in the championship match.

Michelsen was No. 1,081 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings this week last year, but the #NextGenATP American is now up to No. 139 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings as a result of his run in Rhode Island, where he downed defending champion Maxime Cressy, James Duckworth and Mackenzie McDonald prior to defeating record four-time Newport titlist Isner.

“I think I’m going to need a month [to process this],” said Michelsen, who did not have an ATP Tour main-draw win before this week. “It’s going to need a little bit for sure. It doesn’t feel like I’m in the final, but that’s probably a good thing. That’s why I’m playing so loose.”

Having also qualified in Mallorca for his ATP Tour debut in June (when he fell 5-7 in the third set to eventual champion Christopher Eubanks), Michelsen on Saturday proved once again that he is ready to compete against more experienced opponents. He held his nerve like a seasoned pro in a first-set tie-break shootout with the big-serving Isner, before riding that momentum to an early — and ultimately decisive — break in the opening game of the second set.

The way Michelsen raised his game at key moments was crucial to his semi-final victory at the grass-court ATP 250. He saved all three break points he faced in his one-hour, 42-minute triumph, and fired back-to-back aces to seal his win before dropping his racquet and raising his arms in the air to salute a delighted home crowd.

“I knew he was going to serve two or three aces a game consistently, so I just focused on my serve to get to a breaker,” said Michelsen after Isner sent down 20 aces in defeat. “I got a little fortunate to win that first-set breaker and then I think I caught him sleeping a little bit [early in the second set], and then just held my serve.”

Mannarino earlier booked his spot in his first Newport final with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph against his fellow Frenchman Ugo Humbert. The second seed was rock-solid from the baseline and aggressive on return throughout, converting four of 14 break points to secure a one-hour, 46-minute win.

“I was feeling really good on the court today,” said Mannarino after the match. “Especially the [past] couple of matches gave me a lot of confidence, so when the big moments arrived during the match I was just pretty confident in my game. It worked pretty well. My serve was really efficient today, and my return as well.

“There are some days like that, where everything is rolling your way, and that was one of those days.”

Sunday’s final will be Mannarino’s second on grass of the 2023 ATP Tour season. The 35-year-old also reached the championship match in Mallorca in June before falling to Christopher Eubanks. He is 2-10 in tour-level finals across his career, having lifted titles in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2019 and in Winston-Salem in 2022.

Taylor Fritz is in a stacked top quarter of the draw at the Atlanta Open, where the top seed will try to rejuvenate his 2023 ATP Tour season.

The World No. 9 Fritz takes on Dallas champion Wu Yibing or Corentin Moutet in his opening match at the hard-court ATP 250. Should the 25-year-old pass that test, his quarter-final opponent could be his #NextGenATP countryman Ben Shelton or Japan’s Kei Nishikori, playing his first tour-level event since October 2021.

Fritz went 3-4 across the recent grass season but has already lifted a title on North American hard courts this year, at the Delray Beach Open in July.

Nishikori, who underwent hip surgery in 2022, has racked up an 8-2 record on the ATP Challenger Tour since returning to competitive action in June. The 12-time tour-level titlist’s first opponent in Atlanta will be Australia’s Jordan Thompson.

Like Fritz, defending champion Alex de Minaur will have little time to find his feet in Georgia. The two-time Atlanta titlist meets the winner of a hard-hitting first-round showdown between Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis and wild card Gael Monfils. It will be a second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between the pair, after Monfils triumphed in straight sets in Kokkinakis’ hometown of Adelaide in 2022.

Fresh from his breakout run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals, Atlanta native Christopher Eubanks faces American wild card Andres Martin as he looks to continue his red-hot form. Eubanks is seeded to meet fourth seed Yoshihito Nishioka in the quarter-finals, with second seed De Minaur a potential semi-final opponent.

Daniel Evans is the third seed at Atlantic Station. The Briton’s opening opponent will be German Dominik Koepfer or record six-time champion John Isner. The 38-year-old Isner, who is competing in the Newport semi-finals on Saturday, holds a 37-6 record in Atlanta. He is joined in the second quarter of the draw by his fellow Americans Maxime Cressy and Alex Michelsen, who play each other, and eighth seed J.J. Wolf.

Ruud Meets Baez In Hamburg Opener
Casper Ruud’s clay-court prowess will be put to the test immediately at the third and final ATP 500 on the surface this season, the Hamburg European Open. The top-seeded Norwegian takes on two-time tour-level clay titlist Sebastian Baez in Germany, where fourth seed and home favourite Alexander Zverev is a potential semi-final opponent.

Andrey Rublev will chase a fast start against Bernabe Zapata Miralles in Hamburg, where fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo is a potential quarter-final opponent for the second seed. Also in the bottom half of the draw is defending champion Lorenzo Musetti, who outlasted Carlos Alcaraz at the Rothenbaum Tennis Center to win his maiden ATP Tour crown a year ago. The Italian begins his title defence against a qualifier.

Lehecka Could Face Thiem Early In Umag
Playing as a top seed at an ATP Tour event for the first time, Jiri Lehecka could face former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem in his opening match at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag. A maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between the two will be set if Thiem can defeat a qualifier in his opening match at the clay-court ATP 250.

Home favourite and 2012 champion Marin Cilic, playing only his second tournament of the year after undergoing knee surgery, is a potential quarter-final opponent for Lehecka and Thiem. In the bottom half of the draw, 2006 champion Stan Wawrinka opens against a qualifier and is seeded to meet second seed Lorenzo Sonego in the semi-finals.

Alex Michelsen does not remember exactly when he started playing tennis, but it was at a very young age. His parents, Erik and Sondra, both played college tennis, so it was natural for him to take up the sport.

There are two childhood memories that stick in the 18-year-old American’s mind. From age three, he remembers often hitting backhands against the door of the family’s garage. Fittingly, that shot has become one of his biggest weapons.

Michelsen would often tag along with his parents to play. But another memory is a day when he was unable to do so.

“I just remember crying on the court one day because it was raining,” Michelsen told ATPTour.com. “I couldn’t play.”

Now Michelsen is one of the quickest-rising players on the ATP Tour. The #NextGenATP star was tied for No. 1,081 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings this week last year. Entering the Infosys Hall of Fame Open semi-finals, he is No. 152 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Fresh off his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title last week in Chicago, Michelsen arrived in Newport with just one tour-level match to his name. Now the teen is in the semi-finals of only his second ATP Tour event. Has it hit him?

“Not really. Not yet,” Michelsen said. “I’m ranked 190 now. Seeing that next to my name on the ATP site is a little crazy. I never really thought, if you would have told me a year ago, I’d be Top 200 now. I’d be like, ‘Whoa, no way.’ So yeah, I don’t think I processed it. So hopefully, I can just stay in shock this week and just keep playing good tennis.”

At his roots, Michelsen is a competitor. The teen simply loves trying his best to win, which is a major reason behind his 41-14 record at all levels this season. The American enjoys the one-on-one battle on the tennis court.

Michelsen’s older brother by three years, Jake, also played tennis before choosing swimming. That was not for Alex, though.

“Swimming wasn’t my thing. Swimming is very hard and tennis is definitely more fun than swimming as a sport at least,” Michelsen said, adding swimming was “too intense”.

The Californian also played baseball and soccer. Baseball came especially easy to him. But as he approached his teens, Michelsen had a decision to make, ultimately quitting soccer and then baseball.

“I chose tennis. And I find it way more enjoyable than most sports,” Michelsen said. “I’m a very competitive person. I like it being on me when I win or lose.”

In last year’s Wimbledon boys’ singles event, Michelsen lost in the first round. However, he partnered Sebastian Gorzny to the boys’ doubles title.

“It was a pretty cool, pretty surreal experience,” Michelsen said. “I was in the same locker room as Novak for a couple days and I was like, ‘Wow, it’s pretty cool being around. [It was a] different, different vibe, different feeling to be around those guys. And really good experience, especially as a little boy seeing all that.’”

Michelsen has not yet turned pro — he is committed to the University of Georgia. But since that Wimbledon victory, he has been on the ascent.

Former World No. 4 Brad Gilbert, who has coached the likes of Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray, has raved about Michelsen since he saw him early this season.

“I watched him the first week in January when he was ranked 650,” Gilbert said. “I watched him play three times in a rain-soaked week in Malibu, where he ended up playing the second round on Saturday.

“Then I saw him play twice in the Calabasas Futures in March. And then I tweeted about him a bunch that he’s going to do this year kind of like what [Ben] Shelton did last year. He’s going to finish the year Top 100 and he’s going to be into the Aussie Open. But his game is completely different [from] Shelton, who had a big serve and kind of flies around the court.”

Gilbert believes Michelsen’s tennis is his own, but contains a mix of traits from the games of Jenson Brooksby and Tommy Paul.

“His two strengths are that he moves incredibly for 6’4″ and he knows how to defend, kind of like a Murray skill, or a Brooksby,” Gilbert said. “But he’s even faster than Brooksby.”

It has impressed Gilbert to watch Michelsen seamlessly climb from one level to the next — from the ITF World Tennis Tour to the ATP Challenger Tour and now the ATP Tour — and win at them all.

“He’s not getting wild cards every week. He’s just winning matches. He knows how to win matches and his biggest strengths are he knows how to move and defend,” Gilbert said. “And he’s got a world-class backhand already. I mean, an elite backhand and then you know what else? He’s a legit 6’4″. I would assume he’ll be 6’6″ because I’ve met his parents. His parents are big. Both of his parents played D1 tennis. I will be surprised if he’s not at least another two inches taller.

“And he returns tremendously. I think that’s maybe most surprising about him is how well he returns.”

About one year ago, Michelsen realised he had to fully focus on tennis if he wanted to reach his goals. Once a young teen who loved spending plenty of time playing Fortnite, teenis had to become more than just something he played, but a lifestyle.

“I just went full 100 per cent on tennis and [had] no other real focus,” Michelsen said. “Obviously, I had to finish high school. Besides those two things, I didn’t put my focus toward anything else really.”

Over the past two years, the amount of tennis he has played has significantly increased, from two to three hours per day to five plus fitness work. His coaches have been Eric Diaz and Jay Leavitt.

Michelsen has also put more of an emphasis on his diet, including cutting out desserts.

“I’ve tried to stay away. Sometimes I have them as a reward. But I try to stay away as much as I can, because it’s not good for you,” Michelsen said. “And especially when you’re trying to go to the gym and get a little stronger. It kind of negates it. So I’ve been having to substitute that with protein and whatnot.”

On the court, Michelsen believes his biggest breakthrough — a mental one — came in February, when he made the final at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Rome. The result helped him believe that he could compete at that level.

“I beat a bunch of good players that week and then I went [to the] semis the next week, and that put me at 300,” Michelsen said. “I was like, ‘Wow, okay, I can be playing Challengers now’.”

It has not been a completely smooth road, though. Two months after his breakthrough in Rome, Michelsen suffered a disappointing straight-sets loss in the Tallahassee quarter-finals to Enzo Couacaud.

“I was just kind of losing it. I was playing really bad and I was yelling and I launched a ball out of the facility,” Michelsen said. “That was the last time I was kind of losing it and just acting like a whack job. It’s tough being out there alone all the time, but that’s the [tennis] life and it’s what we chose.”

Michelsen has focussed on staying mentally tough during matches. And what has been clear in Newport was how much Michelsen has been doing just that and enjoying the moment. He has no team with him in Rhode Island. Abdullah Shelbayh, who has competed with Michelsen on the ATP Challenger Tour, supported him early in the week. Former Top 50 player Ryan Harrison, who is in town, has also lent his support.

Michelsen has also received kind words from other players in the field. Tommy Paul, who was the top seed, approached the 18-year-old when he was speaking to ATPTour.com.

“I’m so honoured to finally meet you,” Paul said, offering a handshake.

“Tommy, good to meet you my man,” Michelsen replied.

“I’ve been following your results and I’m very impressed,” Paul added.

Now ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race, the Next Gen ATP Finals contender’s only previous ATP Tour main draw came in June, when he competing in Mallorca. The 18-year-old lost 5-7 in the deciding set to Christopher Eubanks, who went on to win the title and reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals. 

Michelsen has clearly arrived. As simple as it sounds, now it is about continuing what has gotten him this far: battling on the court.

“It’s fun, but it’s hard,” Michelsen said. “Nothing good in life comes easy, so gotta work for it.”

Another three-tournament week on the ATP Tour features action in Hamburg, Atlanta and Umag, where Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz and Stan Wawrinka compete in the respective fields.

Ruud is the top seed at the Hamburg European Open, an ATP 500 clay-court event, with Andrey Rublev and Lorenzo Musetti also in action. Fritz, Alex de Minaur and Ben Shelton headline the field at the Atlanta Open, an ATP 250 hard-court tournament, while Wawrinka and Jiri Lehecka compete on clay at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag, an ATP 250.

ATPTour.com looks ahead at five things to watch at each event.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN HAMBURG
1) Top Seed Ruud: World No. 4 Ruud leads the field in Hamburg as the top seed. The Norwegian, who holds a 20-6 record on clay this season, is making his fourth appearance at the ATP 500 event in Germany, where he advanced to the semi-finals in 2020. The 24-year-old, who is into the final in Bastad, is chasing his second tour-level title of the season, having triumphed in Estoril in April.

2) Defending Champion Musetti: The Italian returns to Hamburg as the defending champion, after beating Carlos Alcaraz in a three-set final thriller 12 months ago. Musetti, whose best result this season was a semi-final appearance at the ATP 500 in Barcelona, arrives in Hamburg off the back of a run to the last four in Bastad, an ATP 250.

3) Rublev Second Seed: Former champion Rublev arrives in Hamburg chasing his second crown of the season, having clinched the biggest title of his career in Monte-Carlo in April. The 25-year-old, who begins against Bernabe Zapata Miralles, lifted the trophy at the ATP 500 event in 2020, while he reached the final in 2019.

4) #NextGenATP Stars In Action: Frenchmen Arthur Fils and Luca Van Assche will both make their debuts in Hamburg. The 19-year-old Fils, currently fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race, clinched his first tour-level crown on clay in Lyon earlier this year. Van Assche, 19, advanced to the second round in Bastad last week and lifted an ATP Challenger Tour title on clay in April.

5) Home Favourites: Germans Alexander Zverev, Yannick Hanfmann and Daniel Altmaier will lead home hopes in Hamburg. Zverev advanced to the semi-finals at the ATP 500 in 2014 and in 2019, while Hanfmann enters having enjoyed a career-best season. The 31-year-old reached the quarter-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event on clay in Rome and the semi-finals in Santiago. Altmaier will be aiming to advance beyond the first round in Hamburg for the first time in his fifth appearance. 

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN ATLANTA
1) Fritz Leads Field: Fritz will aim to re-find his best form when he competes in Atlanta. The American, who reached the title match at the ATP 250 hard-court event in 2019, has advanced to the quarter-finals at just one of his five previous events. The 25-year-old has tasted success on hard courts this year, though, lifting his fifth tour-level trophy in Delray Beach.

2) Two-Time Titlist De Minaur: Australian de Minaur has fond memories in Atlanta, where he won the title in 2019 and 2022. The 24-year-old is seeking his second trophy of this season after clinching the biggest trophy of his career on hard courts in Acapulco in March. De Minaur also advanced to the final at The Queen’s Club last month.

3) Red-Hot Eubanks: Home favourite Christopher Eubanks, who grew up in Atlanta, entered the spotlight at Wimbledon, where he upset Top 15 stars Cameron Norrie and Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final. The 27-year-old American, who also clinched his first tour-level title in Mallorca earlier this month, will hope to continue his red-hot form when he makes his third appearance in Atlanta.

4) Shelton Returns: The 20-year-old Shelton was ranked outside the Top 300 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings when he competed in Atlanta last year. The American returns this year at No. 39, having enjoyed a breakthrough run to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open.

5) Mahut/Roger-Vasselin In Doubles Action: Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut/Edouard Roger-Vasselin lead the doubles field in Atlanta, where they will face competition from Jamie Murray/Michael Venus and Marcelo Melo/John Peers. Thanasi Kokkinakis, who won the doubles title with Nick Kyrgios last year, teams with Lloyd Harris.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN UMAG
1) Former Champion Wawrinka: Swiss star Wawrinka lifted his maiden tour-level trophy in Umag in 2006 and is back competing at the event for the first time since 2007. The 38-year-old’s best result on clay this season was a second-round appearance at Roland Garros.

2) Thiem Chasing Form: After a disappointing second-round defeat against Hamad Medjedovic in Gstaad last week, Thiem enters Umag aiming to turn a corner. The Austrian, currently 8-16 on the season, has had success at the clay-court event in the past, winning the trophy in his only previous appearance in 2015.

3) Lehecka Makes Debut: The 21-year-old competes in Umag for the first time. The Czech star, who was runner-up at the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2022, advanced to the third round on clay at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo earlier this year. He arrives in Umag off the back of a fourth-round apperance at Wimbledon.

4) Cilic Returns: Former World No. 3 Marin Cilic competes for the first time since Pune in January. The Croatian, who has been out since the start of the year following knee surgery, is making his seventh appearance in Umag and first since 2014 when he reached the semi-finals. The 34-year-old lifted the trophy at the ATP 250 in 2012.

5) Defending Doubles Titlist Bolelli Returns: Simone Bolelli returns to Umag as the defending champion. The Italian teamed with Fabio Fognini last year but joins forces with Andrea Vavassori this week. Czech Lehecka teams with countryman Roman Jebavy.

Casper Ruud reached his third tour-level final of the season on Saturday when he overcame Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-5 at the Nordea Open.

Competing on the clay at the ATP 250 event in Bastad, Ruud caused Musetti problems with his weight and depth of shot. The Norwegian struck his groundstrokes with heavy topspin and earned the decisive break of the second set in the 11th game to advance after one hour and 46 minutes.

The top seed Ruud is a former champion in Bastad, having triumphed in 2021. He will compete for his second title at the tournament and 11th overall when he meets Francisco Cerundolo or Andrey Rublev in the final.

With his 20th tour-level win of the season on clay, Ruud improved to 1-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Musetti. Earlier this season, the 24-year-old captured his 10th tour-level trophy and ninth on clay in Estoril.

The 21-year-old Italian Musetti was chasing his first title of the season. Last year, he triumphed at tour-level events in Hamburg and Naples.

Former champion Albert Ramos-Vinolas moved to within one win of capturing his fifth tour-level title on Saturday when he defeated second-seeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-3 at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad.

The Spaniard dictated throughout the one-hour, 32-minute clash at the ATP 250 clay-court event, breaking Kecmanovic’s serve six times and outlasting the Serbian with his heavy groundstrokes.

With his 10th tour-level win of the season, Ramos-Vinolas reached his 12th tour-level final and first of the year. He will meet Argentine Pedro Cachin or #NextGenATP Serbian Hamad Medjedovic in the title match.

Ramos-Vinolas, up 15 spots to No. 64 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, has fond memories in Gstaad, having triumphed at the event in 2019. He also advanced to the semi-finals last year. The 35-year-old will compete for his fifth tour-level crown on Sunday.

Kecmanovic, who was making his debut in Gstaad, was aiming to reach his third tour-level final of the season after advancing to the title match on hard in Delray Beach and on clay in Estoril.

Cachin continued his standout run when he moved past #NextGenATP Serbian Hamad Medjedovic 6-3, 6-1 to reach his maiden tour-level final.

Competing in his first semi-final, the 28-year-old was strong on serve, winning 92 per cent (22/24) of his first-serve points to advance after 65 minutes. The Argentine defeated the top seed Roberto Bautista Agut earlier this week and is up 22 places to No. 68 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

“I think I played really good tennis,” Cachin said. “Amazing tactically. I played hard and I didn’t make many mistakes. He is a young guy who plays amazing tennis. I am very happy to be through.”

The 20-year-old Medjedovic was competing in his first tour-level semi-final. The Serbian is currently seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race as he aims to make his debut at the 21-and-under event.

This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es.

The noise surrounding Carlos Alcaraz at any ATP Tour tournament is always deafening, but not only among his fans while he competes, practises or moves around the venue. When he returns to the private areas such as the locker rooms and the players’ lounge it is also difficult for him to find silence.

He is inundated with congratulatory messages wherever he goes, exclamations of surprise merely at his presence, people asking for autographs and photos – even with players –, and those who want to engage him in conversation. And yet, he treats everyone as a friend. Amid all the hubbub, it is easy to hear his polite greetings for anyone who crosses his path.

“I try to be friendly, warm, get on with everyone. It’s more important to be a good person than anything else. At the end of my career I’d like people to remember me, more than as a tennis player, as someone with good values. At the end of the day, you only spend a few hours a day on court, the rest of your life you’re off it. That’s why at those times I also try to use the manners that my parents taught me,” explains the recent Wimbledon champion.

Judging by the opinions of some of his peers, it looks like he is achieving his goal. “As a tennis player, there is no doubt,” says Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis of Alcaraz, whom he has known since they crossed paths on the ATP Challenger Tour. “But I think he is an even better person. He’s so good and well mannered… In the end, that’s what matters.”

Plenty of other players are in agreement.

“He’s a 10 out of 10 guy, really funny and nice,” says Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena. “He wishes you luck whenever you play, he asks you how you are, speaks to you normally. It’s incredible that he’s at such a high level and wins such big tournaments, and that he’s so normal. He’s still the same as when I met him many years ago training together in Spain.”

Alcaraz’s humility and spontaneity with his fans and in front of the cameras and the press is also clear to many of his fellow players. But his upbringing is not the only reason for his off-court behaviour. His closeness with Juan Carlos Ferrero is also a factor. The former-World No. 1 plays a huge role in keeping his charge’s feet firmly on the ground and ensuring he doesn’t forget his roots.

“He’s a charming and humble kid. His coach is doing a phenomenal job of guiding him in that regard because he’s been through the same thing. I’m so happy that everything is going so well for them,” said Roberto Bautista Agut.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina agrees: “They’ve brought him up with great values, but having an ex-world No. 1 like Juanki as a coach is also an advantage for him, because he helps him by telling him how to progress and how to act.”

Alcaraz might be in a hurry to leave a tournament venue, in the zone as he waits to enter Centre Court, or angry as he leaves it after a defeat… but even during those tense moments he is happy to have a friendly interaction with others.

“There are players who get more serious in competition, and off court they are distant. I’m the opposite, I try to get on with everyone,” Alcaraz said. “At the end of the day, they are people I’ll spend the whole year with. Not getting along with those people is no use at all.

It’s no coincidence then that his biggest rivals are some of his best friends on tour. Such is the case of Jannik Sinner. After losing to the Italian in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami last March, the Spaniard wished him luck for the final. “Go for it, I’ll cheer for you,” he said to him with a smile as they shook hands.

His charisma is so evident in the locker room that even some of his victims, still reeling from defeat, are partly happy for Carlitos. This was visible in the first season of Netflix series Break Point, when Frances Tiafoe sought out the Spaniard after losing to him in the semi-finals of the 2022 US Open. “You’re going to be the world No. 1. You deserve it,” the American told him as they embraced.

His character, combined with his premature success, make him a magnetic personality for many, including other stars of the game. Horacio Zeballos, for example, was one of those that asked him for a photo after his successful participation at Wimbledon.

“Thanks for your customary humility,” the Argentine said in his Instagram post of his photo with the No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Ranking. “You’re the best!”, Alcaraz replied.

It seems that the more success he has on court, the more approachable and human he becomes off it. An anecdote from Bagnis is proof of that.

“I once asked him for a birthday video for a friend”, remembers Bagnis. “He could have told me no, ignored me or told me what day to do it on. But he responded by asking me when I had time so we could do it. I thought that was really something.

“He was doing me a favour and ended up considering my availability. It’s amazing that someone so important and so good is still so friendly, well-mannered and correct.”

It is no coincidence Alcaraz is one of the best-loved players among the fans, his peers and tennis lovers in general. However, his success on court is only a minor reason for his popularity.