World number 2 Carlos Alcaraz celebrated his 20th birthday on May 5, 2023. The Spaniard is not a teenager anymore, but his achievements during that phase are nothing short of remarkable. Alcaraz turned pro in 2018 at the age of 15. That same year, he reached the quarter-finals of the ITF Spain F5 tournament before elimination. Alcaraz started his professional tennis journey after pocketing $438 at the same tournament.
2019 – From $438 to $12,212
In 2019, Alcaraz featured in 11 tournaments, nine of which were in Spain. These tournaments included 6 ATP Challengers, 4 Spanish ITF tournaments, and an ATP 500 qualifier. In his second ITF tournament in Palmanova, Alcaraz reached the semi-finals before he was eliminated. He repeated the feat in Martos before winning his first-ever ITF tournament in Denia.
The Spaniard earned $3,600 for winning the ITF M25 Denia. He was eliminated in the first round in his fourth and final ITF tournament of the year. In total, Alcaraz earned $5,868 from ITF tournaments in 2019. To display his full potential, Alcaraz wanted to put his best performance on display at the ATP Challengers.
There was no fairytale beginning to the year for Alcaraz as the best finish he could muster in the ATP Challenger Tour was a quarter-final exit in Seville that saw him earn €1,850 ($2,040). He reached the Round of 16 in Murcia and faced second-round exits in Alicante and L’Aquila, Italy. In the Mallorca and Florence Challengers, Alcaraz lost in the first round.
At the age of 16, Alcaraz made €3,930 ($4,334) from ATP Challenger tournaments in 2019. Another addition of €1,765 ($1,946) was made via the youngster’s brave attempt to try and qualify for the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona. However, Alcaraz was beaten in the first qualifying round, as the teenager finished 2019 with $12,212 in his pocket.
2020 – From $12,212 to $81,932
In his second year as a pro, Alcaraz started with a bang winning two back-to-back ITF tournaments in Manacor, Spain. He earned $2,160 from each tournament. He almost completed a hat-trick of ITF titles in Antalya, Turkey, but lost in the final against Hungarian opponent Zsombor Piros.
Alcaraz played in seven ATP Challenger tournaments in 2020. He won three and finished as a runner-up in one. He won his first Challenger title in Trieste, Italy. In Cordenons, he almost nabbed back-to-back titles but lost to Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the final. Eventually, he achieved the feat by winning two successive Challengers in Barcelona and Alicante.
The three Challenger victories added €24,630 ($27,163) to Alcaraz’s prize money tally. The Spaniard earned €33,895 ($37,380) in prize money from all seven Challengers in 2020. In addition, Alcaraz also played in his first ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro, where he picked up his first win before losing in the second round.
The youngster also played his first Grand Slam qualifying match at Roland Garros in Paris, France, but was eliminated by Aleksandar Vukic in the first round. He earned $24,540 from the ATP 500 tournament in Rio and made €10,000 ($11,028) at the French Grand Slam qualifying. Alcaraz finished a pandemic-inflicted year with prize money worth $81,932.
2021 – From $81,932 to $1.6 million
2021 was a breakthrough year for Alcaraz. As the courts became active after the frustrating pandemic break, every player wanted to start the new year with a bang. Alcaraz started focusing on bigger ATP tournaments in 2021. After a Round of 16 exit at the ATP 250 tournament in Melbourne, he made his Grand Slam Main Draw debut at the Australian Open.
Despite being eliminated in the tournament’s second round, Alcaraz earned A$150,000 ($100,900). He played in all four Grand Slams in 2021, and his best finish came at the US Open, where he reached the quarterfinals and earned $425,000. The total prize money Alcaraz earned from Grand Slams in 2021 was approximately $745,087.
Besides the Grand Slams, Alcaraz played in five Masters, three ATP 500s, seven ATP 250s, two Challengers, and the Next Gen ATP finals. He made his Masters Main Draw debut in Miami, where he suffered a first-round exit. His next Masters exit came on his 18th birthday in Madrid, where he lost against Rafael Nadal in the second round.
The best Masters finish Alcaraz managed came in Paris, where he reached the Round of 16. 2021 was a year to remember for the Spanish youngster because he won his first ATP 250 title in Umag, Croatia, and earned €41,145 ($45,217) as prize money. He also finished the year by winning the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, earning $400,000.
2022 – From $1.6 million to $7.6 million
Alcaraz’s transition phase from ATP Challengers to ATP Tour, Masters, and Grand Slams was completed at the end of 2021. In 2022, the youngster was eager to inch closer to the top of the ATP rankings. He won his first ATP 500 title in Rio and pocketed $317,400 when the new Tennis season was still in its early days, and there was a lot more to come his way.
The Spaniard secured his first Masters title in Miami before winning his second ATP 500 title in Barcelona. Then he doubled his Masters title tally in Madrid and broke into the top 10 of the ATP rankings. Progress was noteworthy at Grand Slams as well. At the Australian Open, Alcaraz went out in the third round and earned A$221,000 ($148,241).
At Roland Garros, he reached the quarterfinals and secured prize money worth €380,000 ($417,972), and then reached the Round of 16 at Wimbledon, earning another £190,000 ($239,400). The highlight of his year came at the 2022 US Open when Alcaraz won his first-ever Grand Slam title and earned prize money worth $2.6 million.
After starting the year with an ATP ranking of 31, Alcaraz, aged 19 years and 214 days, ended 2022 as the youngest and first teenager world number 1. He earned a whopping $7.6 million in 2022, and approximately $3.4 million came in via the Grand Slams’ prize money. About $3.1 million was earned by Alcaraz via the Masters, and the remaining $1.1 million came via other ATP Tour tournaments.
2023 – From $7.6 million to 11.6 million
Five months into the new year, Alcaraz has already taken his on-court revenue from $7.6 million to $11.6 million. As a teenager, the exact amount Carlos Alcaraz has earned on-court after turning pro in 2018 is $11,778,006. Winning a Masters, two ATP 500 tournaments and an ATP 250 has boosted his revenue.
This year, before his 20th birthday, Alcaraz earned $2.4 million. A little over $1.2 million came in after the world number 2 won his third Masters title at Indian Wells earlier this year. He also defended his ATP 500 titles in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona after winning his third ATP 250 title in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The $11.7 million sum that Alcaraz earned during his teenage years does not include the prize money he accumulated in the doubles category. However, that amount is relatively small ($42,430) compared to his singles category on-court earnings. This revenue also excludes earnings from endorsements via Nike, Babolat, Calvin Klein, BMW, Rolex, and more.
