The Mutua Madrid Open announced on Wednesday that Carlos Alcaraz will take part in its 2021 tournament. The young 17-year-old Spaniard is one of 56 players who will take part in the ATP Masters 1000, from 27 April to 9 May, having received one of the wildcards for the final draw. 

“I’d like to thank the Mutua Madrid Open for giving me the opportunity to play in the Caja Mágica”, said Alcaraz. “It’s a great experience for me to be able to play in Spain with all the people. I hope to play well there in May”.

The Murcia native has had a spectacular start to the season, claiming 3 wins from 5 matches played in Australia. Not only did he seal his place in the final draw of the Australian Open, he also won his first match in a Grand Slam at Melbourne Park by beating Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp in three sets.

A week earlier, at the ATP 250 in Melbourne, he picked up the biggest win of his career against world No. 14 David Goffin. The result makes him the youngest player to beat a Top 15 opponent since Richard Gasquet defeated Nicolás Massú (No. 14) in the quarter-finals in Buenos Aires in 2004, also aged 17.

Coached by the 2003 Mutua Madrid Open champion and ex-number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, he has enjoyed a meteoric rise, climbing from the Top 500 to the verge of the Top 100 is just one year. Last year he won ATP Challenger tournaments in Trieste, Barcelona and Alicante, making him the youngest three-time champion at 17 years and 5 months since 2003, the year he was born. 

For all this success, Alcaraz won 2020 Newcomer of the Year at the ATP’s yearend award ceremony. The Spaniard was up against other young guns such as Sebastian Korda, Lorenzo Musetti, Jurij Rodionov, Emil Ruusuvuori and Thiago Seyboth Wild.

Feliciano López, director of the Mutua Madrid Open, was full of praise for you young, promising Spaniard. “This invitation is a nod to youth. It’s been many years since I’ve seen a young Spaniard with such potential. Seeing such a young kid playing like Carlos does is very special, unique. We’re delighted to welcome him to our courts again, six years after he was here in our Under-12 tournament”. 

It will not be the first time the boy from Murcia graces the Caja Mágica. In 2015, having just turned 12, he played in the under-12 tournament. On the clay of Stadium 3 he was already showing signs of his enormous potential, taking the crown by defeating Alejandro Turriziaini 6-7(1), 7-5, 6-1 in the final.

The remaining wildcards available for the 2021 Mutua Madrid Open will be announced soon.