He won\u2019t be competing at the Caja Magica this year, and it shows. Even so, Carlos Alcaraz wanted to be there. He stopped by the tournament, visited his Foundation\u2019s exhibition, and left in his wake a conversation on\u00a0Iguales, the official Mutua Madrid Open podcast, which provides a good picture of the player he is today; more mature, more in control, but equally connected to what matters most.<\/p>\n
Carlos Alcaraz wore his familiar, friendly smile, but it was clear he would have loved to have been fielding the usual, mundane questions about his tennis game: \u201cNot being able to play here in Madrid, well, the feelings are a little different. I\u2019m OK, but things could definitely be better\u201d.<\/p>\n
In that context, as the chat with\u00a0Gravesen\u00a0drifts away from the noise of the tour, Murcia comes up in conversation, as it often will when the world No. 2 is around. While Madrid today represents the pain of not being able to compete, Murcia remains his refuge, a place to return to when the schedule is packed and travel is relentless. Alcaraz explains that the first thing he misses when he\u2019s away is \u201csleeping in my own bed\u201d. The second is \u201ca good\u00a0marinera\u201d (a typical Murcian snack). However, the real reason he loves to return home, rather than his own bed or his favourite treat, runs much deeper: \u201cWhen I go back to Murcia, it\u2019s like I become the child I used to be. In a way, I forget I\u2019m a tennis player and just go back to being the person I\u2019ve always been\u201d.<\/p>\n
That is surely one of the keys to Alcaraz in 2026, and, truth be told, it\u2019s always been the case; the need to return to simpler things in order not to lose his way. \u201cDoing the simplest things in the world with my mates is what relaxes me, what keeps me grounded\u201d, says the El Palmar native.<\/p>\n
This back-to-basics attitude ties in nicely with the other big idea he shared on\u00a0Iguales; his psychological progress. When\u00a0Gravesen\u00a0asks him what\u2019s changed between 2023 and 2026, Carlitos looks inward: \u201cI had a lot of ups and downs that we had to learn a lot from. Before, the pressure and nerves used to get to me. Now, I take it all much more in my stride, much more calmly, enjoying myself on court\u201d.<\/p>\n
Of course, there was also plenty of talk about golf. Because even when the conversation moves away from tennis, Alcaraz still finds a way to bring it back to competition. He enjoys the surroundings, the nature, the tranquillity, the fact that no one bothers him, but above all, he\u2019s hooked on another aspect of the game: \u201cThe main thing is it\u2019s you against yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps that\u2019s why tennis players are frequently fans of the game of golf. It\u2019s an intimate battle with oneself. \u201cAs you see yourself improving, you get more and more hooked\u201d, he said. In fact, when he was asked about a target for 2026 away from the court, he didn\u2019t hesitate: \u201cI\u2019ve set myself a personal goal for the end of the year, which is to try to reach a handicap of 5 in golf. Right now, I\u2019m about 12\u201d, it\u2019s an ambitious target, but Carlitos likes a challenge, even when he\u2019s not on a tennis court.<\/p>\n
That line of questioning led to one of the most entertaining moments of the chat; his friendly rivalry with Andy Murray. Here, a more competitive and cheeky side of Alcaraz appeared: \u201cI\u2019ve got to be honest here. If we played one-on-one, he\u2019d thrash me, give me a drubbing, but that\u2019s my second medium-term goal. When I\u2019m a five handicap, I\u2019ll beat him\u201d, he concluded with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, even that little battle on the golf course fits perfectly with the portrait of the seven-time Grand Slam winner. The champion who today can\u2019t play the tournament and is feeling it, the kid who needs to return to Murcia to find himself, the player who now understands pressure, and the competitor who, even when he switches off, still sets himself a new goal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
He won\u2019t be competing at the Caja Magica this year, and it shows. Even so, Carlos Alcaraz wanted to be there. He stopped by the tournament, visited his Foundation\u2019s exhibition, and left in his wake a conversation on\u00a0Iguales, the official Mutua Madrid Open podcast, which provides a good picture of the player he is today; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":107260,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[838,837],"tags":[840],"class_list":["post-107289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticias-tenis-masculino-en","category-noticias-tenis-en","tag-carlos-alcaraz-en-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107289"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107290,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107289\/revisions\/107290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}