--- description: Find out why Carlos Alcaraz was selected for TIME‘s 2026 list of the most influential people in sports. title: TIME100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026: Carlos Alcaraz image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c3b6f032f4048c3/6a2086e9fc978a3e8d6f9677/T100SPORTS-2026-Web-Carlos-Alcaraz.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9%2Coffset-x0.00%2Coffset-y39.75 --- Jun 09, 2026 # Carlos Alcaraz by [Sean Gregory](/author/sean-gregory/) ## Sean Gregory Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent  Felipe Figueiredo Carlos Alcaraz, the 23-year-old tennis phenom from Spain, combines the physicality of his countryman [Rafael Nada](https://time.com/7085935/rafael-nadal-retirement/ "undefined")l and the drop-shot artistry of [Roger Federer](https://time.com/6213799/roger-federer-retires-legacy-serena-williams/ "undefined"), and his complete package may help him obliterate the record books. After winning the [2022 U.S. Open](https://time.com/6212586/us-open-2022-champion-carlos-alcaraz-tennis/ "undefined"), Alcaraz became the youngest world No. 1 in men’s tennis history. His defeat of rival [Jannik Sinner ](https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/jannik-sinner/ "undefined")at the[ 2025 French Open](https://time.com/7292114/carlos-alcaraz-wins-french-open-2025/ "undefined") was an instant classic, and his win over Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in January made him the youngest man to earn a career Grand Slam—victories at the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open. (He is missing the French Open and Wimbledon this year due to injury.) A seven-time winner of Grand Slam tournaments, Alcaraz uses speed to play exquisite defense, and his ability to smash winners on the move makes him difficult to beat. “I think it’s really important to show the opponent that they are going to sweat a lot,” Alcaraz said at [last year’s U.S. Open](https://time.com/7315226/us-open-carlos-alcaraz-win-2025/ "undefined"), which he won. Carlos Alcaraz: TIME100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/carlos-alcaraz/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/carlos-alcaraz/"},"headline":"Carlos Alcaraz","datePublished":"2026-06-09T12:00:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-10T15:58:36.290Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/carlos-alcaraz/","keywords":["list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c3b6f032f4048c3/6a2086e9fc978a3e8d6f9677/T100SPORTS-2026-Web-Carlos-Alcaraz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x0.00%2Coffset-y39.75&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sean Gregory","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/"}],"creator":"Sean Gregory","articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c3b6f032f4048c3/6a2086e9fc978a3e8d6f9677/T100SPORTS-2026-Web-Carlos-Alcaraz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x0.00%2Coffset-y39.75&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/carlos-alcaraz/","name":"Carlos Alcaraz"}}]}] ```