- New Netflix documentary lifts lid on Spaniard’s controversial trips to party island
- His team tried to convince him not to go, calling him ‘selfish’
- Alcaraz admits: ‘I spend a lot of days enjoying life. Maybe more than I should’
In a new documentary, Carlos Alcaraz opens up about his nights of hard partying in Ibiza just a few weeks before winning Wimbledon.
After a crushing defeat in the 2023 French Open semi-final to Novak Djokovic, when Alcaraz was beset by cramps, he went on a three-day trip to Ibiza.
And in the Netflix three-part series: Carlos Alcaraz, My Way, he says: ‘I had a friend who had a few days off, going to Ibiza with other friends.’
The TV show reveals that his team were less than impressed with the idea. His agent Albert Molina says: ‘I tried to explain to him that it might not be the best idea to go to Ibiza for three or four days on vacation when he had Queen’s the following week and then Wimbledon.’
‘I ended up going and they know what I’m going there to do,’ says Alcaraz. ‘In Ibiza, I’m not going to lie, it’s pretty much all about partying and going out.
‘I basically went there to reventar (literally, ‘burst’), I’m not sure if that’s the best way to put it but I went there to go out.’
Carlos Alcarez (left) says he went partying in Ibiza for three days straight last summer (pictured with Argentinian rapper bizarrap, right)
The tennis star told his stunned coaches ‘you know what I’m going there to do’ (pictured with footballers Lisandro Martinez, right, and Sergio Reguillon, second left)
But he credits the partying with his Wimbledon titles in 2023 and 2024
‘I really made the most of it because I knew I might not get another three days like that.
‘When I got back, I won Queen’s and Wimbledon. I’m not saying I won because of the partying but those days were good for me. And I believe if things are going well, you have to keep at it. I had to do it again this year!’
And so in 2024 he returns to Spain’s notorious party island – and again his team try to dissuade him. ‘He can party if he wants, he can get away. But don’t do it before getting ready for a Grand Slam,’ says physical trainer Alberto Lledo.
That second party trip left him undercooked for defending his Queen’s title, and he was knocked out by Jack Draper.
Juanjo Moreno, his fitness coach, says: ‘I remember looking at Carlos and saying: “Now is not the time. You’re being selfish in the present with your future self”.’
Alcaraz responds: ‘They always want to protect me, but I’m getting older, I’m starting to make my own decisions and that’s what I want.’
It is part of a fascinating picture the documentary paints of the tension between Alcaraz’s desire to cling on to some shreds of a normal 21-year-old life and his team’s attempts to convince him of the sacrifices necessary to achieve his aim of becoming ‘the greatest player of all time’.
Alcaraz made the revelation on his new Netflix documentary, released on Wednesday
It speaks to the almost impossible levels of dedication set by the Big Three of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and – the figure who looms largest for Alcaraz – Rafael Nadal.
His coach Juan Carlos Ferrero says one must become a ‘slave’ to the sport and, in the most startling line in the documentary, he expresses doubt over whether Alcaraz has the dedication required.
‘He has a different way of understanding work and sacrifice,’ he says, comparing his player to Djokovic. ‘It’s so different that it makes me question whether he can really be the best in history.’
Alcaraz admits: ‘I don’t take care of myself as much, I spend a lot of days enjoying life. Maybe more than I should. But I want to do it my way.’
