From megawatt smiles to 30 million fashion deals, how Carlos Alcaraz is set to become the first billion dollar tennis player

WHEN Carlos Alcaraz fell to the ground in disbelief after winning one of the great Wimbledon finals, his celebration not only cemented his place in tennis history.

The Spanish sensation who last year became the youngest men’s number one event at 19 years and four months after winning the first of his two grand slams at the US Open could also be tied for a billionaire fortune.

His beaming smile, businesslike charm and down-to-earth humility have made him a marketing dream that has won comparisons to Three Lions legend David Beckham whose fame extends beyond his sport.

Andrew Castle, a former British number one turned BBC pundit, reckons the sky is the limit for the 20-year-old after Carlos won the Wimbledon final against 36-year-old defending champion Novak Djokovic, the Serbian superstar widely regarded as the greatest player ever . a record 23 grand slam singles titles.

Alcaraz’s ascent, with its 130 mph serve, ground-stroke cannonball and deft drop shot, was hailed as a moment of changing of guard.

Castle, 59, told The Sun: You can’t go head-to-head with Djokovic unless you’re for real, and that was a big moment.

The world of tennis is exhilarated by Carlos but he has the possibility of transcending tennis because there is something so likable about him.

He was a healthy kid, a really nice guy and just a bouncing bundle of energy and his tennis game was exciting.

kebab shop

He didn’t come from a privileged background.

He has the possibility to be bigger than sport, people adore him.

Carlos is on track to become one of the highest earning sportspeople in history.

At 20 years old, with everything he’s done now, why isn’t he making a billion dollars?

Castle meet alcaraz for the first time at the Wimbledon Champions Dinner on Sunday night, where the champion appeared in a tuxedo.

And after watching Djokovic and now-retired Swiss great Roger Federer, 41, and injured Spaniard Rafael Nadal, 37, each amass millions of dollars, he’s confident Carlos can put an even bigger smile on his bank manager’s face.

Federer’s tidy 20 slams including eight Wimbledon to Djokovic’s seven helped him rack up an estimated 442 million before hanging up his monogrammed white RF match day jacket.

But Castle said of the new king: When Carlos walks into a room, people know he’s there.

“I’ve seen it and it’s interesting.

On stage at the Champions Dinner he delighted everyone.

He really respected me as an interviewer.

He remembers people’s names, he can run a room and make everyone feel great.

Prior to Wimbledon, he was said to be worth 7 million thanks to deals with Rolex, Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, BMW and racquet maker Babolat.

But that will be beaten by the 30 million he is expected to make in a new deal this year.

The Wimbledon Nike bucket hat he often wore during tournament interviews immediately flew off the shelf.

It is not surprising that Carlos, who is said to be dating Spanish beauty and tennis activist Maria Gonzalez Gimenez, is now being compared to Becks, 48.

Goldenballs won countless football awards but became famous for his marriage to Spice Girls star Victoria as well as his day job.

But once he’s done celebrating his latest achievement, Alcaraz will return to his parents’ flat 170,000 above a kebab shop in El Palmar.

Touchingly, she said in a past interview: Until recently I didn’t consider myself a famous person, and I get nervous about almost every famous person I meet.

‘The happiest moment of my life’

Carloss Wimbledon win was witnessed by Spain’s King Felipe VI, the Prince and Princess of Wales with Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and celebrities including film royalty Brad Pitt, Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig.

Climbing the ladder to his box in his triumphant moment, he was met by family including parents Carlos Snr and Virginia, older brother Alvaro, younger brother Jaime as well as coach and former No1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, agent Alberto Molina and physio Juanjo Moreno.

The tears flowed reflecting on her journey since her talent was first spotted in the village of El Palmar in Murcia, Spain.

He described his win, in front of an estimated 60 million TV viewers in Britain and the US alone, as the happiest moment of my life and rightly so after becoming the youngest men’s Wimbledon champion since Germany’s Boris Becker was 17 years old in 1985.

But while he won 2.3 million Wimbledon prize money and wore a 50,000 Rolex watch as he held the gold trophy aloft, he knew his career was almost over before it started.

The watershed moment came when his parents were unable to fly their little Carlitos, as they still call him, to a world under-10 championship competition in Croatia.

‘He pleases everyone’

They also paid to raise his brothers Alvaro, Jaime and Sergio.

But confectionary company Murcia Postres Reina spent 2,000 euros on the trip as Carlos reached the final then continues to sponsor him.

One of Carloss’ early coaches, Kiko Navarro, recently had this to say about the trip: It ended up costly but it’s a great foundation.

Navarro had spotted Carlos’ talent early on.

He said: This kid, at the age of four, five years is very spectacular.

But denying the ace’s now exuberant disposition on the court, Navarro added: Carlos has a big temper.

He doesn’t like to lose.

When we travel the world and he loses a game, you have to leave him for a while because he will cry.

He’s a bad loser.

Carlos himself admits: When I was young, I was a completely different person.

Maybe I didn’t enjoy it as much as I do now.

I’m always angry, throwing rackets, complaining.

But he added: I started to calm down, control my emotions. I’m starting to enjoy.

Since turning professional in 2018, he has taken the sport by storm with his daring shooting skills and an astounding fleet of feet on the court.

A day after his 19th birthday at the Madrid Open, he became the first teenager to ever beat clay court king Nadal on his favorite surface, in the quarter-finals.

The following day, he beat Djokovic in the semifinals.

Then, last September, she topped the rankings for the first time after winning the US Open.

Doubts arose when he lost to Djokovic in four sets at this year’s French Open after suffering from cramps.

But he bounced back with a stellar, albeit relatively rookie on the surface season with a win in the warm-up event Queens followed by a big one.