Career Grand Slam, Ferrero, wrist: Everything you always wanted to know about Carlos Alcaraz (but never had time to find out) – updated after 2026 Vienna title

Who is Carlos Alcaraz?

Carlos Alcaraz is a Spanish tennis player who has won seven Grand Slam singles titles and became the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam at the 2026 Australian Open. A wrist injury kept him off the tour from April to the end of August 2026. He returned to win titles in Tokyo and Vienna, where he beat Australian Alex de Minaur 6-1, 6-4 in the final on November 1.

He won his first ATP title at 18 and reached World No. 1 at 19. Since December 2025, he has played without Juan Carlos Ferrero, the coach who built his career.

How old is Carlos Alcaraz and who are his family?

Carlos Alcaraz Garfia was born on May 5, 2003, in El Palmar, in the Murcia region of Spain. According to his ATP profile, he is 6ft 1in (1.85m) tall.

His parents are Carlos and Virginia, and he has three brothers, Alvaro, Sergio and Jaime. His father, once ranked in Spain’s top 40, introduced him to tennis at the age of four.

His idols growing up were Rafael Nadal, with whom he shares a liking for clay, and Roger Federer. Off the court, he plays golf and supports Real Madrid.

When did Carlos Alcaraz turn professional?

Alcaraz turned professional in 2018, aged 15, and worked his way up through Futures and Challenger events. He won his first ATP match in Rio de Janeiro in February 2020, aged 16.

In 2021, he won his first ATP title in Umag and became the youngest ATP champion since 2008. A few weeks later, still 18, he reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at the US Open.

How many Grand Slam titles has Carlos Alcaraz won?

Seven. Alcaraz won the US Open in 2022 and 2025, Wimbledon in 2023 and 2024, Roland-Garros in 2024 and 2025, and the Australian Open in 2026.

He won his first major at 19, beating Norwegian Casper Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3 in the 2022 US Open final. He was the first teenager to win a men’s major since Nadal at Roland-Garros in 2005.

At Wimbledon in 2023, he beat Serbian Novak Djokovic 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the final, ending Djokovic’s 34-match winning streak at the tournament. He beat him again in the 2024 final, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

His first Roland-Garros title came in 2024, when he beat German Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in the final. In 2025, he saved three championship points to beat Italian Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2) after 5 hours 29 minutes.

Sinner beat him 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the 2025 Wimbledon final, his first defeat in a major final. Two months later, Alcaraz beat Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the US Open final.

Has Carlos Alcaraz won all four Grand Slams?

Yes. Alcaraz completed the Career Grand Slam at the 2026 Australian Open, beating Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 in the final. At 22, he became the youngest man to win all four majors and handed Djokovic his first defeat in an Australian Open final.

In the semi-finals, he beat Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 after 5 hours 27 minutes. He came back from 5-3 down in the fifth set while struggling with cramps.

It was his first major without Ferrero in his box.

What are Carlos Alcaraz’s biggest records?

In 2024, Alcaraz became the youngest of the six men to win Roland-Garros and Wimbledon in the same season, after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic.

He won a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, losing the final to Djokovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2).

In April 2026, he recorded his 300th Tour win in Monte-Carlo. At the 2026 US Open, his career win rate in Grand Slam matches moved second in the Open Era, behind only Borg’s.

What is Carlos Alcaraz’s highest ranking?

No. 1. Alcaraz first reached the top of the rankings on September 12, 2022, the day after his US Open title, and became the youngest World No. 1 since the ATP rankings began in 1973.

He had spent 66 weeks at No. 1 when Sinner overtook him by beating him 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the 2026 Monte-Carlo final. Zverev clinched the No. 1 ranking in October 2026. Alcaraz’s current ranking is on his ATP Tour profile.

How many titles has Carlos Alcaraz won?

Alcaraz has won 28 ATP singles titles. The latest came in Vienna, his fourth of 2026 after the Australian Open, Doha and Tokyo.

His first Masters 1000 title came in Miami in 2022, at 18. In 2025, he won eight titles: Rotterdam, Monte-Carlo, Rome, Roland-Garros, Queen’s, Cincinnati, the US Open and Tokyo.

In February 2026, he beat Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-1 in 50 minutes to win in Doha. In October, he beat Czech Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (4), 6-4 to defend his Tokyo title, his first trophy since the wrist injury.

Which defeats marked Carlos Alcaraz’s 2026 season?

Alcaraz won his first 16 matches of 2026. Russian Daniil Medvedev, the 11th seed, ended the run with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win in the Indian Wells semi-finals.

A week later, American Sebastian Korda beat him 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the third round in Miami, his first win over a World No. 1. In April, Sinner beat him in the Monte-Carlo final.

At the US Open, his first tournament after the wrist injury, American Ben Shelton beat him 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) in the quarter-finals, at the latest finish in the tournament’s history.

What happened to Carlos Alcaraz’s wrist?

Alcaraz injured his wrist in Barcelona in April 2026. After further exams, he withdrew from Rome and Roland-Garros, where he was the two-time defending champion, giving up 3,000 ranking points.

In May, he also pulled out of Queen’s and Wimbledon, then of Cincinnati in August. He returned at the US Open after four and a half months away, beating Russian Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.

Why does Carlos Alcaraz want to play fewer tournaments?

After his return, Alcaraz said he would take regular breaks from the tour, with the aim of playing for another 10 to 15 years.

He opposes best-of-three sets at the majors but wants a shorter calendar. He still played the Laver Cup in September, saying weeks like that help him enjoy the game again.

Who leads the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry?

From the 2024 Australian Open to the 2026 Australian Open, Alcaraz and Sinner won nine consecutive Grand Slam titles between them, five for Alcaraz and four for Sinner.

In April 2026, the two were almost 8,000 points ahead of Zverev, then No. 3. Injuries then changed the picture, and Zverev won Roland-Garros and the US Open.

After winning Vienna, Alcaraz rejected the idea of a two-man contest in 2027 and named Zverev the best player of 2026.

Who is Carlos Alcaraz’s coach?

Samuel López has led Alcaraz’s coaching team since the start of 2026. The Spaniard, a former coach of his compatriot Pablo Carreño Busta, joined the team in December 2024.

Before that, Alcaraz was coached for seven years by Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former World No. 1 and 2003 Roland-Garros champion, who had worked with him since he was 15.

Why did Carlos Alcaraz split with Juan Carlos Ferrero?

Alcaraz announced the end of their partnership in December 2025. Ferrero said he would have liked to continue.

Ferrero later said contract talks had broken down over clauses unrelated to tennis. In March 2026, he also described different views on discipline, and in October 2026, while presenting his autobiography, he denied having been too strict.

Alcaraz called it an internal decision and said he was grateful for their seven years together.

Can Carlos Alcaraz surpass Novak Djokovic?

Djokovic holds the men’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles. Alcaraz had won seven by the age of 22, and Tennis Majors looked at whether he can catch the Serbian during the 2026 Australian Open.

In February 2026, Nadal said Alcaraz should no longer be described as a prospect and called him a legend.