In the sun-drenched village of El Palmar, Spain, a young Carlos Alcaraz first gripped a tennis racket at the tender age of four, setting the stage for a career that would catapult him to the pinnacle of the sport. Now a four-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1, Alcaraz’s meteoric rise is a tale of raw talent, familial support, and the keen eye of his first coach, Carlos Santos, who recently shared intimate details of the prodigy’s formative years in his book, Alcaraz, the Making of a Champion. Santos, who guided Alcaraz from ages five to twelve, paints a vivid picture of a boy whose passion and flair for tennis were evident from his earliest swings, offering a glimpse into the making of a global superstar.
Santos recalls Alcaraz as a diminutive yet dynamic force at the Real Sociedad Club de Campo de Murcia, where the boy’s father, Carlos Alcaraz González, served as a coach and administrator. “When I see him now, I see the same player I had as a child, only stronger and taller. It’s the same magic,” Santos said, reflecting on the continuity of Alcaraz’s style. Even at eight, Alcaraz displayed an uncanny knack for creative shot-making, peppering matches with drop shots and charging the net with fearless abandon. Santos noted that this flair wasn’t coached but innate, nurtured by his father’s early lessons in sound technique. “All that he trained, he also did in matches. For him, it was natural,” said David Ayuela, a former Spanish Junior Davis Cup captain, echoing Santos’s observations of Alcaraz’s precocious game.
The Alcaraz family’s deep ties to the Murcia club laid the foundation for Carlitos, as he’s affectionately known, to flourish. His grandfather, also named Carlos, had transformed the club into a tennis haven, installing red clay courts that became the region’s finest. Despite their “medium-class” background, as Alcaraz described it, the family prioritized his passion, with his mother, Virginia Garfia Escandón, and brothers Álvaro, Sergio, and Jaime cheering him on. Santos credits the family’s warmth for keeping Alcaraz grounded. “Carlos Sr. always tried to make it look more like a team sport, in the sense of that support,” Santos explained, highlighting how shared joys and sorrows shaped the young player’s resilience.
By age eleven, Alcaraz’s potential caught the eye of sports agent Albert Molina, who secured sponsorships to fund his junior tournaments across Europe. Santos, however, parted ways with Alcaraz at twelve, a decision he attributes to the arrival of a new figure in the boy’s career—likely Molina—who brought financial backing. “I did everything I could for this child, even to the point of changing my personal and professional situation,” Santos said, acknowledging the bittersweet end to their seven-year partnership. Though his departure strained relations with Alcaraz’s father, Santos insists it was “the best decision” he ever made, allowing Alcaraz to transition to Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Equelite Academy in Villena by 2018. Ferrero, a former world No. 1 and 2003 French Open champion, became the mentor who would guide Alcaraz to global stardom, earning the ATP Coach of the Year Award in 2022.
Santos’s reflections reveal a young Alcaraz who was “a little noodle with no muscles” but possessed an undeniable spark, as Ferrero later noted. At fourteen, Alcaraz earned his first ATP point, competing fiercely despite his slight frame. His game—marked by blistering forehands, deft drop shots, and agile court coverage—mirrored the style that would later draw comparisons to Rafael Nadal, his childhood idol. “I loved tennis since the beginning,” Alcaraz told reporters, recalling his early days when he could barely hold a racket but fell in love with the sport’s rhythm and challenge.
Now 21, Alcaraz’s journey from El Palmar’s clay courts to Wimbledon’s hallowed grass is a testament to his early promise. Santos, however, expressed a nuanced view of Alcaraz’s recent Netflix docuseries, Carlos Alcaraz: My Way, suggesting it could have portrayed a more disciplined image of the star. “Within a few years, that ‘way’ will be another, with more discipline and more rest,” he remarked, hinting at the maturing process awaiting the young champion. As Alcaraz gears up for the 2025 season, with new coach Samuel López joining Ferrero to bolster his team, Santos’s account underscores the magic of a boy who, even as a child, played with the heart of a champion, destined to redefine tennis.
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