Carlos Alcaraz has developed into one of the best players on the ATP Tour in recent years.
The 21-year-old Spaniard continues to impress against the very best in men’s tennis and is currently third in the ATP rankings.
Alcaraz won the Rotterdam Open earlier this year, taking home the 17th title of his young career and his first on indoor hard courts.
Traveling to Europe for the clay court season, Alcaraz will hope to add some more trophies to his collection.
He’ll next be in action at the Monte-Carlo Masters, which begins on April 7, but first, he shared his thoughts on his ‘rude’ ATP rivals.
Carlos Alcaraz says how he feels when he sees ‘players being rude’ on the ATP Tour
During an interview with Louis Vuitton, Alcaraz was asked how he intends to inspire the next generation of tennis stars.
“I think the most important thing is being kind, being a good person,” he said.
“For me it’s the most important thing, and of course, behave well on court.
“Get good values when you’re on the court and off the court, that could be a good influence for the kids.”
The four-time Major champion then gave his honest opinion on ‘rude’ ATP players.
“When I see you know some players being rude, I feel like ‘What happened with this guy?’ he said.
“When I see one of my idols, for example, my idol Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer or other athletes, you know being so kind all of the time, and performing pretty well on the court.
“When I started, I felt they were being such great guys for me, I was like [I really want to be like these guys], and I want to be the same for the kids.”
Alcaraz has spent time with both Federer and Nadal, competing alongside the latter at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Nadal and Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals of the Olympic doubles tournament, losing out to the American pair of Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.
Later that year, Alcaraz spent time with Federer at the Shanghai Masters, practising with him before the tournament in China began.
Learning from two of the best to ever play the game, perhaps it’s no surprise Alcaraz continues to fight for trophies on the ATP Tour.
Carlos Alcaraz thanks Juan Carlos Ferrero for making him the player he is today
Alcaraz is no stranger to surrounding himself with Grand Slam talent, having been coached by 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero since the age of 16.
He has now opened up about his relationship with the 45-year-old, thanking him for the lessons he taught him.
“Well, probably thanks to Juan Carlos [Ferrero] I’m the player who I am now,” said Alcaraz.
“I learned a lot from him.
“At the beginning of our partnership we spent a lot of time together, we traveled a lot and we traveled just him and me.
“Thanks to that, I could learn a lot from him as a person, as a player.”
Alcaraz picked out the one lesson he thinks was the most important.
“He told me the importance of being off the court, that I have to be, let’s say, a good person off the court, and the things that you’re doing outside are going to have a huge impact on the court,” he said.
“So that’s taught me a lot and probably since 16, 17, I’ve started to take care of all the details that I’m doing off the court, just to get better and I make sure that it’s going to be good on court.”
Alcaraz will no doubt continue to learn from his countryman in 2025, as the pair look to pick up another title together in Monte-Carlo later this month.
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