Carlos Alcaraz continues to reach new heights thanks to his rapid rise into the highest tiers of sport and is now one of the most famous names in tennis.
The Spaniard became the sixth tennis player to attain and cross the five million mark in followers on Meta's social media platform, Instagram. This was fastened by Alcaraz's most recent Grand Slam success last weekend when he won the French Open for the first time.
The 21-year-old became the youngest man to win a major on all three surfaces in professional tennis (hard, grass, and clay) after coming from behind to defeat Germany's Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in over four hours.
He joins fellow Spaniards Juan Carlos Ferrero (his coach) and childhood idol Rafael Nadal in the winner's list. Alcaraz is now one Australian Open win away from winning the career Grand Slam (winning all four majors). It would make him the youngest man to do it if he wins in Melbourne next year.
A year ago, Alcaraz experienced a similar social media boom after winning his maiden Wimbledon title. He beat seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the final, and he amassed over 1 million followers in two days.
And now, with his Roland Garros win, even the occasional tennis onlookers have taken note of his talent. He still has a long way to go to catch some of his more accomplished peers like Nadal and Djokovic and the retired trio of Serena Williams, Roger Federer, and Sania Mirza.
Nadal currently tops the list with 21.2 million followers on Instagram and is the only tennis player to cross the 20 million mark. Serena is second with 17.2 million followers, while Djokovic is third with 14.6 million followers.
It is a landmark week for Alcaraz, who also broke the top 10 prize money earners on the ATP Tour, having attained over $30 million in just four years of playing at the top level. This list is headed by Djokovic, who has over $180 million in career earnings.
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