Highlights
- Alcaraz gets dirty for Vanity Fair’s first-ever Global Sports Issue cover, shot by Ethan James Green
- The tennis star opens up about injury struggles, mental health, and his epic rivalry with Jannik Sinner
- Alcaraz shares the historic issue alongside WNBA star A’ja Wilson and soccer icon Kylian Mbappé
He’s the brightest star in men’s tennis — and now he’s proving he’s just as magnetic off the court.
Carlos Alcaraz, A’ja Wilson, and Kylian Mbappé are the cover stars of Vanity Fair‘s first dedicated global sports issue — and the Spanish tennis phenom is turning heads in more ways than one.
As the brightest star on the men’s tennis scene, Carlos Alcaraz draws attention whether he likes it or not. But for this shoot, he leaned all the way in. Photographed by acclaimed lensman Ethan James Green, the Alcaraz cover, with the clay dust, is already generating buzz among fashion insiders — and for very good reason.
The issue explores “sport’s cultural, financial, and political influence at a time where it has emerged as one of the few forces still capable of commanding global, cross-generational attention.” And if Alcaraz’s cover is any indication, sport has never looked this good.
Vanity Fair Style Correspondent José Criales-Unzueta speaks to the Spaniard about his rise to number one and the rivalry that promises the future of his sport.
Alcaraz — one of the youngest Grand Slam champions in history — doesn’t let the weight of expectation rattle him. But he’s clear-eyed about the pressure that comes with the territory.
“I’m aware that I have so much ahead of me, and I try not to think that I have 12 or 15 years left of my career because I get overwhelmed,” he told the magazine.
His recent absence from competition due to injury, he said, was a lesson hard-learned.
“There’s been times in which I didn’t stop to take a break,” he admitted, “and that led to me not playing well, or becoming injured, or… Let’s just leave it at that, that it didn’t end well.”
The Spaniard also took the opportunity to address critics who’ve weighed in on his lifestyle choices — with characteristic, disarming honesty.
“Well, I think that nowadays we have to be way more careful with what we say, and what we do, but at the end of the day, we’re just human, you know?”
On the court, his white-hot rivalry with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner is the match-up the tennis world can’t stop talking about. Alcaraz, for his part, is refreshingly measured about it.
“We’re showing the world that we can be on court and give our best, and try to do the most possible damage to the other while playing, try to beat each other, and then, off court, just be two guys who get along really well.”
Don’t expect him to draw easy comparisons to Federer-Nadal or Nadal-Djokovic just yet, either.
“It’s not comparable to the historic rivalries that have happened in tennis, because we both have so many years ahead. Hopefully, we will continue playing against each other many times, at many finals, and that we will split the greatest tournaments.”
Then there’s the mental side of the game — something Alcaraz speaks about with a maturity that belies his years.
“I think it’s just as important, or more, than taking care of your body. There’s people who are, fairly so, obsessed with body aesthetics, but to me it’s just as important to take care of your head.”
What he doesn’t want is a career that turns him into something robotic. What he doesn’t want is to end up leading a monotonous life that makes him “a slave to tennis.”
The shirtless Vanity Fair cover marks yet another milestone in a media and fashion résumé that’s growing as fast as his Grand Slam trophy case. The young star has already fronted campaigns for Louis Vuitton and Calvin Klein — and this latest editorial moment only cements his standing as one of sport’s most compelling crossover figures.
The full issue, which also features WNBA superstar A’ja Wilson photographed by Campbell Addy and Paris icon Kylian Mbappé shot by Annie Leibovitz, is available now on newsstands and at VanityFair.com.
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