Carlos AlcarazLaureus award for best male athlete of 2025 talks with BRAND and La Gazzetta dello Sport on the Monday of his coronation in Cybele Palace. On the right hand there is a splint that protects a wrist that is giving him trouble without yet a definitive forecast on the times to be managed for his competition in the next tournaments.
Ask. Seven Grand Slams, now a Laureus, win so many things that do you have time to savor them all?
Answer. We try to give the importance and value that each award has. Sometimes it’s non-stop. You achieve one thing and you go on to the next. And then it becomes like a wheel that is difficult to stop and appreciate, but we always try to give everything the value it deserves.
Q. Here there has also been a rivalry with Sinner for the prize. Without him would you be the same player?
A. I don’t know, maybe yes, maybe no, but what I can guarantee is that Jannik has made me a much better player. The fact of having him there, of having the objective in each training session of trying to improve those small details that I have to improve, especially when I am going to face him, is what makes me improve. I am very grateful that Jannik is on the circuit because he makes me give my 100%.
Sinner has made me a better player, he makes me give 100 percent
Q. Mandela spoke about how sport could change the world. Have you experienced any type of episode in which you realized the power that athletes have?
R. The world of sports is one of the biggest worlds there is. And it is becoming more and more powerful, so to speak. In the end, when you reach the status of a great athlete, especially in your area, one of the best athletes in your area, you have important social power. Just like when I was little, many people have sports people as their idols and try to imitate them, do the things they do.
Q. To finish off, Djokovic as presenter. Are your 24 Grand Slams the final challenge?
R. In the end this is very long in the end. I hope my career is that way and we are going to try to do everything possible to make it that way. We’ll see how far I go. I don’t know if I’m going to stay here at 10, 15, 24 or 27. I try not to set any limits for myself and follow the path we have, which is very good. And in the future we will see.
Alcaraz, during the interview, wearing the splint on his injured forearm.
Q. Off the court, is Carlos as competitive as Alcaraz?
R. Off the court, every time I play with my team, with my brothers, with friends, whatever we compete in, I can’t lose.
Q.McIlroy was another nominee for best comeback. You are a passionate golfer who has recorded fun YouTube shows with Bryson DeChambeau. Do you see yourself doing the same in tennis?
R. What he is doing is very positive for golf. In the end it mixes many areas. And not just about sport, it mixes many celebrities playing golf, which are funny videos, very very funny and that in a certain way hook many people to start watching golf or practicing it. As a great fan, I have great admiration for Rory, Bryson and so many other golfers out there. I don’t think I would do it with tennis.
Q. Sinner has also started playing golf, do you have another rivalry there?
R. Yes, yes, I have seen him many times when I see him in the locker room and I also see him with his team that is starting. We talk a lot about golf, about the courses we have played and the ones we have to play. The truth is that we had a good time. We always say the same thing, let’s see when we can play, let’s see if between tournaments or in the same tournament, where you always make some time. In skiing, of course, I’m not training, but in karting I am. In karting there we are going to compete.
I like to be in my house, in my town, with my friends
Q. You are a very part of your gang. When you step on red carpets like the Laureus one, do you handle it well or do you feel uncomfortable and say: what I like is being with my friends?
R. There is time for everything. To adapt to each situation. I like to be at home, in my town, with my friends. And I also like to be at these types of events surrounded by legends and surrounded by people I have admired. That’s nice. And many times, sometimes with my friends, when I see someone I tell them: look, I’ve been with this athlete, I’ve been with this person, I’ve had dinner with this one. And there are still many times that I’m like in shock, like I’m that little kid again.
Q. What version of Alcaraz have we not seen yet?
R. I hope my best version hasn’t come out yet. I’m still too young to say I’ve reached my full potential. I still have years to continue learning, to continue improving in all areas, both tennis-wise and physically and mentally. I hope that in a few years it will be my best version.
I hope the best version of Alcaraz hasn’t come out yet
Q. You met Sabalenka at the gala, another top tennis player. In Los Angeles, would you also dare to seek Olympic gold in mixed with the Spanish tennis player who comes best or is it too much of a beating?
R. I have already experienced the Olympics. If I hadn’t experienced them, I would have said yes. But having already experienced some, how demanding the doubles, the singles are… the fact that it is only a week and a half or a week and having to play two games on the same day, or if it is the mixed one, sometimes three, is too much. I remember that in Paris I arrived at the final quite exhausted, especially mentally. It is unlikely that I will be able to play it.
Q. What makes you happy in your life as an athlete?
R. It’s a question I get asked a lot. The life of an athlete has its good and bad parts, the positive thing is the opportunity I have in everything, in reaching people, in meeting many people, in meeting many idols. Tennis opens many doors for you to see a lot of the world and that is wonderful. That’s what I take away from the life of an athlete.
