It’s early March, and Carlos Alcaraz is standing on the 17th hole of Shadow Creek, MGM’s Tom Fazio-designed golf course in northern Las Vegas. The winds, fueled by a blizzard hitting the Sierra Nevadas, are fierce. (Apparently, we are in the midst of the area’s worst windstorm in nearly 40 years.) However, the landscape itself is shining. Baked red rocks support the green, which is framed by a waterfall and preceded by a pond that sways in the breeze. Yellow flowers adorn the vignette. They’re nature’s equivalent of the neon lamps that frame the casino machines on the Strip.
Alcaraz (officially Carlos Alcaraz Garfia), the 20-year-old world No. 2 men’s tennis player and two-time Grand Slam champion (the US Open in 2022 and Wimbledon in 2023), takes the tee.
He wears a Jordan snapback, a purple Nike pullover, tailored blue pants, and black Nike golf shoes. Alcaraz has a tremendous swing, and it’s (mostly) worked for him as we’ve battled the winds on Shadow Creek’s back nine. He hit a high ball. It’s a crisp strike, arcing through the wind. The ball lands within ten feet of the hole. Alcaraz kicks up his heels, performs a joyous cha-cha dance, and smiles from ear to ear. “I try to play as often as possible,” he tells me. “But it can be difficult to find three or four hours of the day” while traveling throughout the season. Later, he’ll say that the activity allows him to disconnect from his increasingly—almost impossible—busy existence. “It’s fantastic to, let’s say, forget about tennis for a little while,” he explains.
Alcaraz is in Las Vegas for an exhibition tennis match against fellow Spaniard and elder statesman Rafael Nadal. The Netflix Slam, organized by the streamer in collaboration with MGM Resorts, took place in the latter’s Mandalay Bay complex. The Slam was dazzling and glossy, with virtually the same excitement and decibel level as a major boxing event, and it pitted an established GOAT against a potential GOAT.
According to their meeting, they exchanged pleasantries.
When asked what he has learned from Rafael Nadal, Alcaraz responds, “[Rafa] has that; he never gives up on the ball.” “[I look to] how he solves problems when things aren’t going well.”
The day before, when we hit the links at Shadow Creek, I observed the two of them arrive and take a quick tour of the clubhouse, interacting with almost familial ease. Andre Agassi, a Las Vegas resident and multiple major winner, was also in attendance. He captioned a selfie of himself with Alcaraz and Nadal on Instagram, “Champions in town.” (I grew up chasing Agassi for signatures on the grounds of the United States Open in Queens; it was surreal to see all of these guys in such an uncluttered, non-tennis atmosphere.) Later, while hosting a press conference featuring the two, Agassi would declare of Alcaraz, “This man is amazing.”
