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Carlos Alcaraz, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, has taken the tennis world by storm with his five-set win over Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday, July 16. Alcaraz's popularity has traversed every inch of the planet in the last 24 hours, but the majority of the world is unaware of where it all began for the young gun.
The 20-year-old was born in El Palmar, a small village in Spain's Murcia region. It was the Real Sociedad Club de Campo Murcia where he started playing the sport. His father worked at the club as a tennis academy director.
The Real Sociedad Club de Campo is situated in the mountains of El Palmar. The club was established in 1923 as a hunters' society where people from aristocratic backgrounds gathered to shoot pigeons. Its transformation into a tennis club has inadvertently made it the place where numerous people first saw Alcaraz grinding hard as a teenager.
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During the Spaniard's conversation with Tennis Channel after his win at the All England Club, Jon Wertheim, one of the interviewers, remarked that most people didn't know about Carlos Alcaraz's hometown.
"Most Americans... they know Madrid! They know Barcelona! They don't know where you're from and where you train with Juan Carlos Ferrero. Tell us about that place and tell us about how it has shaped you," Wertheim asked.
The two-time Grand Slam winner replied:
"It's an academy in a small town. I have my almost full team working over there. And once I'm there, I completely focus on my tennis without any distractions. I also have my family and part of my team in Murcia, that is the place where I live. Sometimes I practice there as well."
Alcaraz grew up at a time when Rafael Nadal, his compatriot, had taken center stage in the world of tennis. Drawing inspiration from the 22-time Grand Slam winner, the youngster worked his way to the top under former player and coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero.
In 2018, Carlos Alcaraz began training under Ferrero at the JC Ferrero-Equelite Sport Academy in Villena, Spain. The academy was founded in 1990 by Antonio Martinez Cascales, a former tennis player. Cascales, together with Samuel Lopez, formed a team and started coaching kids. Ferrero became a part of the team the same year, at the age of 10.
Alcaraz won last year's US Open, his first Major title, by beating Norway's Casper Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3 in the final. For his first Wimbledon glory, the World No. 1 defeated Djokovic 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
Juan Carlos Ferrero won his only Major the year Carlos Alcaraz was born
Juan Carlos Ferrero won his career's first and only Grand Slam in 2003 -- the year Carlos Alcaraz was born. Ferrero won the French Open that year with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 win over Martin Vekerk in the summit clash. The former World No. 1 also won the Davis Cup three times and has sixteen ATP titles to his name.
Ferrero made his professional debut in 1998 and hung up his racket in 2012. Apart from Carlos Alcaraz, Ferrero has also worked with Germany's Alexander Zverev for a year.
