The audacity of youth: The Alcaraz Paradigm.

Sports, steadily and surely produce heroes for every age group. The most important athletes, occupy the imagination of the audience across generations.

“…This world is mine for the taking 
Make me king, as we move toward a New World Order…” 

-Eminem (“Lose Yourself”, 8 Mile movie)
        

For world of tennis and its fans, there has never been a shortage of epic battles and heroes (or anti-heroes) on the courts. On the ATP side, in the last 32 years there has not been a vacuum of rivalries, making tennis one of the most followed sports on the planet. Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras; Roger Federer's dominance between 2003 and 2009; the battles of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, from 2010 to 2021, and the emergence of young challengers who are fighting in their way to settle on top, taking over from the magnificent three.

Carlos Alcaraz, on the back of his first Grand Slam, the US Open, becoming the second youngest winner of the tournament at 19 years and 4 months (behind Pete Sampras, who won it at 19 years and 28 days), also debuts as the first teenager to be ranked at Number 1 on the ATP ranking.

Tennis is a very commercially attractive sport, among other factors, due to the focus of storytelling on the athlete and what they are wearing on and off the court. The traditional categories, apart from technical equipment such as the racket, cover sportswear and footwear, watches, automotive, financial services, and airlines and/or tourism destinations.

The Alcaraz phenomenon presents an opportunity while at the same time it is unknown territory, in that it is usually the "Number 1s" that have the greatest commercial impact and have higher projected income, and better sponsorship deals -especially if they maintain the competitive level over time-, apart from their sports prizes winnings. The challenge for Alcaraz's team is how to take advantage of the maximum commercial appeal now, when he is still a teenager…the precedent set by some of his predecessors, is that they reached the commercial stride at a later age.

Carlos Alcaraz is, today, the image of Nike, Babolat, Rolex, Crown Sport Nutrition, BMW Spain, El Pozo, and Tourism of the Region of Murcia. The last two, with a local roots component due to his origin; a very good investment, since the bet is sure to be profitable in terms of national and international exposure, in regards to the promotion of the Costa Cálida tourism destination. But the key to his international projection and personae portrayal, is in the hands of Nike as the brand which is second to none in marketing its ambassadors, and the one who has established itself over the years as “king maker”. Herein lies the paramount importance for athletes (and properties) in partnering with brands that invest in communicating and marketing the athlete, far beyond the product on court. The visibility to the masses that Nike provides with its campaigns, many trascendental and award-winning, is what really positions the athlete in a very favorable situation to capitalize on other commercial categories, not to mention possible collaborations between the brands that sponsor him.

World tennis' wonder boy is on his way to being the new king of tennis, and championing the new world order of the discipline, as Eminem would say in that mythical movie track, in 8 Mile. I don't know if Carlos has seen it, since the movie was released seven months before he was born (his birth was three months before Pete Sampras retired).

It's a new paradigm, and as Nike says: "Number 1 doesn't care about (number) 19." And I think he won't mind any other numbers.