The Humility Of Alcaraz And His Team In Buenos Aires

Argentina Open / Sergio Llamera

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es

The Alcaraz family spans five generations in El Palmar, a parish of Murcia with a little over 24,000 inhabitants that is now known the world over thanks to the sporting feats of Carlos Alcaraz.

Yet this fledgling superstar surrounds himself with people that keep his feet firmly on the ground. The humility and people skills of Team Alcaraz are an important part of understanding the thrilling story he continues to write with his racquet. Some situations and actions speak louder than words.

The team arrived in Buenos Aires for Alcaraz’s comeback to the ATP Tour after three months away at this week’s Argentina Open. Visiting the venue for the first time, Carlos Alcaraz González, Carlos’ father, surprised Martin Jaite, the tournament director, with an unexpected gift.

He introduced himself before showing the former Top 10 player a photo of him after winning a tournament in 1983 in Murcia. One of the ballboys seen alongside Jaite in the picture is Carlos Sr., who had kept the photo at his parents’ home having asked Jaite to sign it for him as a momento.

“I was only 12 years old and for me, at that time, it was amazing. When we came here, I remembered it and decided to bring it for Martin as a present,” Carlos Sr. recalled in conversation with ATPTour.com. The photo was taken at the Real Sociedad Club de Campo in Murcia, the place where the younger Alcaraz learned the game. It is now a treasured adornment to Jaite’s office.

Carlos Sr. himself could have been a tennis player too. In fact, when he was 14 years old, he was offered a place at the Bruguera Tennis Academy in Barcelona, but his family was unable to afford it at that time.

Even so, he did play a few tournaments on the circuit, did well nationally, and became a tennis coach, something that allowed him to always remain at his son’s side. He has shown hundreds of kids how to move around the court, how to serve, and how to enjoy themselves on a tennis court, teaching them values that they can put into practice in their lives outside of tennis. His best student, of course, ended up becoming the youngest No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings at just 19 years of age.

While Alcaraz is very much in the limelight at the Argentina Open, drawing queues of hundreds of fans hoping to get a photo or at least exchange a few words with their Spanish hero, the top seed has shown Buenos Aires that he has none of the airs or graces of a superstar. Quite the opposite.

Whenever his schedule allows it, Alcaraz takes his time to sign autographs, take selfies, and talk to his fans, always with a smile on his face and ever grateful for their gestures of good will. He takes it all in his stride.

Since Alcaraz’s arrival at the Argentina Open, the only difference from the rest of the players is that he and his team have priority for the transport from the hotel to the club, or to wherever they need to be, and the organisers have assigned a security guard to escort him throughout the day.

Alcaraz is accompanied by his father, his elder brother Alvaro, his uncle, his agent Albert Molina, his physio Juanjo Moreno, and Toni Cascales, the long-time former trainer of his main coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, who is not present on this swing of the Tour.

“It’s important to me to always be with my team. I know that with them I’ll make fewer mistakes and that nothing in this new world will catch me off guard,” Alcaraz explained. “At the end of the day, they have been through this, and learning from the experiences of Juan Carlos, Cascales and my family helps me not to make mistakes and to be able to progress more quickly and always try to be better.”

Although their reputation goes before them, the people working at the tournament were constantly surprised by Alcaraz and his team’s good humour and humility, something that was reflected in one particular moment this week.

Alcaraz arrived for training on one of the practice courts as he normally would, with his compatriot Bernabe Zapata Miralles. But when he got there, the court had just been used by other players and was not ready for them. Without complaining, Cascales picked up a rake and Alcaraz himself grabbed a brush that was leaning on the fence to finish the job off before getting down to work.

This is not the only story that speaks to Alcaraz’s character. He also invited some Argentinian players of his age, with whom he had spent time on the junior tour, to come and watch his opening matches from the stands.

Young players like Alejo Lorenzo Lingua Lavallen and Roman Andres Burruchaga, who dream of their own place on the ATP Tour and currently play in lower-tier events, were able to cheer their friend on from the stands. Why does he do it?

“I like being friendly. I have good friends from when I was a junior, I went through a lot with them and I hadn’t seen them for a while. I’m really glad to see them again,” Alcaraz explained. “I’ve always tried to get on well with the people I’ll basically be spending time with every day of my life. I try to be friendly, that’s important to me.”

This is how the World No. 2 spends his days. Always smiling, competing and enjoying this sport as much as he possibly can.