Alcaraz interview: 2023 Wimbledon men’s singles champion talks to AS

Looking surprisingly fresh, considering he’s just been through a five-setter against Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz meets members of the Spanish media at the Wimbledon house he has rented for an unforgettable fortnight in SW19. He hugs us all and thanks us when we congratulate him on his victory at the All England Club, before sitting down for a round of interviews as his father and his agent offer us juice, coffee and Danishes. “Where do you want me?” a smiling Alcaraz asks when it’s our turn to talk to him.

Sitting next to the 20-year-old is the Wimbledon men’s singles trophy - the Spaniard’s second Grand Slam title. He has made history, but you wouldn’t know it by his laid-back, humble demeanour. As his younger brother Jaime shoots hoops out in the garden (he wants to become a professional tennis player, too), Alcaraz talks to AS about what he’s achieved - and what’s to come.

In the wake of your Wimbledon win, you’ll have heard, and will continue to hear, people repeatedly saying the word ‘great’: how great your achievement is, what a great player you are. How do you handle that?

Well, we try not to get carried away by it. We try not to let it distract us from the next objectives in our sights, because we’ve just got to keep on doing what we’re doing. I’m obviously overjoyed - winning here is massive, a dream come true. But I’m also clear in my mind that I’m only going to enjoy it for so long before focusing in on the next challenge.

The other day, you told me you aren’t surprised by what you’re achieving. But you’ve tweeted side-by-side photos of yourself holding the Wimbledon trophy now, and playing as a kid years ago. So I guess you do have to pinch yourself a bit when you see how far you’ve come.

Yeah: obviously, if you’d told the lad in that photo that I’d be sitting here today with two Grand Slams, having beaten Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final, I’d have said: ‘This bloke’s got a screw loose.’ But bit by bit, as the years have gone by, I’ve been clearer and clearer in my mind about what I wanted to become, the path I wanted to follow. So for a while now, with all the work I’ve been doing with my team, and the level I’ve been playing at, the way I’ve grown as a player, I’ve been less and less surprised by what I’ve been achieving. I know how much ability I have, I’ve got clear goals in my mind, and bit by bit my belief in what I can achieve has grown.

I won’t ask you to predict an exact number of majors, but given what you’ve done here at Wimbledon, how far do you think you can go?

As far as my body, my tennis abilities and my mental level can take me. Hopefully I’ve got many more years ahead of me. I don’t know… I’d rather not talk about numbers, about how far I can go. All I can say is that I’m going to go all out to win the next Grand Slam [the US Open in late August and early September]. It’s only in a couple of months’ time, and I’ve got no doubts in my mind that I’m going to go after it and can get my hands on the trophy. I say so with all due respect to the likes of Novak and Rafa [Nadal], obviously.

Given that it’s Wimbledon, and the fact that you beat Djokovic in the final, do you think this win heralds a new era in men’s tennis?

I don’t think so, because at the end of the day, Rafa’s still there, Novak’s still there. They’ve been dominant forces on the circuit for pretty much 20 years. So as long as they’re still playing… Just look at what Novak has achieved. He’s won the Australian Open, he’s won at Roland Garros. I’ve managed to beat him here, but only after a truly epic battle - so as things stand I’m not thinking about a changing of the guard. In a few years’ time, we can talk about that, and new players will have emerged who’ll have established themselves and won a Grand Slam. But, while Rafa and Djokovic are still there, any talk of a new era is going to have to wait.

After winning the US Open last year, you got a tattoo of the date of the final. Is that going to become a tradition? Do you think you’ll get another tattoo here? And, if so, what do you think you’d choose?

I don’t know, I’ll have to think about that. But maybe a strawberry wouldn’t be a bad shout. That could look pretty good.

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Of the many messages of congratulations that you’ve received, which has made you the happiest?

Every single one has made me very happy. It’s always nice when people have a reason to congratulate you on something. But maybe I was most surprised when Will Smith congratulated me. I thought, ‘Wow! You really have come a long way. Will Smith has congratulated you, that’s quite something.’ And it’s always extremely special to be congratulated by Rafa, who’s one of my idols. Fernando Alonso, too; I have so much admiration for him. And there are so many more people; I’ve really been bowled over. If I start going through everyone who has congratulated me, we’ll be here for a while - and I don’t want to leave anyone out!

I imagine you’re aware of the impact you have on people as a player. They watch you both because they like your brand of tennis, and because they like the way you come across as a person. Does that bring you as much, if not more, satisfaction than the actual results you’re achieving?

Yeah, it really does. It gives me immense satisfaction to be able to have an effect on people and put across the right values. To be admired by people I admire. I often have to pinch myself. It’s fantastic for me, being surrounded by people like that - people who I watch, who I admire. And, obviously, I feel really proud to be someone who fans want to follow and to have the chance to put across the right values.