Unfiltered and Unbothered Carlos Alcaraz Opens Up About Showing the World His True Self

How does it feel to know your favorite tennis star more closely? Like how he/she is on and off the court, how they are in the locker room, and how they behave with friends and family. Quite interesting, isn’t it? Well, the documentaries have recently managed to bridge that gap between elite athletes and their fans by providing an in-depth picture of their lives behind the scenes. Spanish tennis star, Carlos Alcaraz’s documentary, ‘Carlos Alcaraz: My Way‘ was released on Netflix on 23 April 2025. Speaking about his documentary, Alcaraz had previously stated, “Everyone knows the tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, but I want to show my personality off the court. I think it’s a great story to tell, that of a little boy who pursued his dream to become world number 1. I want to show everyone who I am off the court.” He claimed he’s super happy to have this experience with Morena Films and Netflix. But was he ever scared of showing his real side to the audience?

Well, according to him, the sole motive of this documentary was to make people aware of his off-court nature. Minute details of his life were put on display in this documentary. For example, it showed how he still sleeps on a twin-sized bed at his parent’s house and how she loves partying with friends in Ibiza to cure the burnout amid the hectic schedules. That’s “his way” of disconnecting from the tennis world and blowing off steam when the time is right. Not only that, it also reflected on how doing it “his way” puts him at odds with his team’s “slave to tennis” philosophy.

Carlos Alcaraz recently got off to a winning start at the Italian Open by defeating Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic by 6-3,6-3 in his first match. Following that impressive win, he gave an interview with Tennis Channel where he reflected a bit on whether he was comfortable with everyone knowing him a lot closer through this documentary. In reply, the Spaniard said, “Well, yeah, I’m comfortable with it. Obviously, a lot of people have their opinion which is great. But yeah, I just…I wasn’t afraid of showing you know, myself, or showing how Carlitos is a person, you know, and my behavior with my friends when I’m at home. I wasn’t scared of it. So great for me, it was great to show you, the people, my personality, how I am, you know, on the court with my friends. I mean, right now I’m feeling great to show that.”

Talking about the reception it got, in his first press conference at the Italian Open, Carlos Alcaraz admitted he was a bit “nervous” because he didn’t know how it’s going to be for the people when they watch and what their reactions will be. “I liked it. But, yeah, just really wanted to that the people enjoy watching it, they like it, as well. So far, the reactions have been super positive, which, for me, it was great. Some players told me that they loved it. It was really honest, as well.” But what about the negative reactions?

Carlos Alcaraz’s honest opinion on the criticisms he has received for his documentary

On one side, Carlos Alcaraz was heavily praised for his recent documentary, but on the other side, he faced a lot of criticism as well. Addressing all those negative reactions in a press conference in Rome, Alcaraz said, “Well, I mean, one thing that I learned was about not thinking about anything the people say to me, or not the real people, my close people, my team, my family, or my close friends. I’m trying just to think not about that. Yeah, I hear good things, bad things about that. So I just want to keep in my path, keep it my own way.“

After seeing this documentary, some of the fans raised a few question marks about his approach to the game. There is a part in this documentary where his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and his agent, Albert Molina, seemed to be a bit critical of his fondness for parties. Addressing the response he got for that, Alcaraz said, “But sometimes they found it, like, weird following that path, like enjoying life, not being such a professional that probably they could do it. But, I mean, I just, as I said, follow with the things that I want, that I like, my team, the things that my team tells me, my close people, my family, and my friends, and that’s it.” However, Carlos Alcaraz appreciated the difference in opinions of himself and the rest of his teammates.

Interestingly, in that documentary, Alcaraz also spoke about “the toughest player you can compete against“, i.e., Jannik Sinner. Although he has a favorable record (6-4) against the Italian, he has time and again revealed that Sinner motivates him to become better. What did he say after seeing him making a return after serving a three-month ban, though? Share your thoughts if you want to see a Sinner vs Alcaraz duel in the Italian Open final.