Carlos Alcaraz has been named the recipient of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, which rewards fair play, professionalism, and integrity on and off the court, a year after becoming the youngest No 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings.
Alcaraz joins Jose Higueras (1983), Alex Corretja (1996, 1998), and Rafael Nadal (2010, 2018-21) as the fourth Spaniard to earn the coveted ATP Awards gong.
The 20-year-old has already won three ATP Awards based on player votes, including Newcomer of the Year in 2020 and Most Improved in 2022.
Whether it’s sending get-well texts to wounded opponents or sharing his umbrella with ballkids after a lengthy rain delay, the two-time major singles champion has quickly established himself as one of the tour’s classiest players. When Fabio Fognini tumbled to the court earlier this year in Rio de Janeiro, Alcaraz famously crossed the net and helped his opponent get back on his feet, much to the joy of the crowd.
Alcaraz won six tournaments in 2023, the most notable of which came after a five-set victory over two-time reigning champion Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. In addition to Buenos Aires, he won in Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, and London (Queen’s Club). The baseliner was the World No 1 coming into the US Open, increasing his total time at the top of the rankings to 36 weeks.
“I’m so happy to win the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award,” said Alcaraz. “I’m especially happy that it’s an award chosen by my colleagues on the circuit. It means a lot to me, so thank you all very much.”
Carlos Alcaraz has been able to concede that while he hopes to haul him in, he wasn’t able to stay on the level of Novak Djokovic all season.
“He plays the same level during the whole match,” Alcaraz explained.
“The shot quality he has is unbelievable. He plays really, really deep. It’s really difficult to take advantage from that. Once again, he has shown why he’s the best player in the world.
“I feel like I am not in his level in indoor court obviously. I’ve played great matches in Wimbledon, in Cincinnati, in Roland Garros. I felt in that match that I’m in the level. Obviously, he has more experience than me playing in these tournaments, in these courts.”
Carlos Alcaraz was indirectly caught up in a storm this year when his father was accused of filming Djokovic in training. He denied any plot though and has made it clear that the observing was out of admiration.
“It’s not about just serving against him. He has a great return game,” Alcaraz added.
“Unbelievable, I’m going to say. As I said, he pushes you to a limit in every ball, every shot.
“Probably, I played great points, but it was like one great point, then three, four points just mistakes. The first ball went out, something like that. Against a player like Novak, you cannot do that.”
