Carlos Alcaraz receives the gold medal of Murcia for his achievements
ATP
Carlos Alcaraz was recently recognized with a gold medal in his home city of Murcia for his tennis achievements.
The accolade, known as the Gold of Murcia, is bestowed on individuals who have made substantial contributions to the city of Murcia, enriching its culture and giving it worldwide exposure.
Alcaraz has most certainly checked all those boxes after an explosive 2022 season on the ATP Tour in which he won four titles. Fittingly, two of those were on home soil in Spain. He triumphed at the Barcelona Open and the Madrid Open.
Alcaraz took to social media to express his satisfaction and gratitude for the award and has promised to work even harder to "live up" to the distinction. He shared some of the photos from the ceremony on his Instagram account.
"Today has been a tremendously special day for me! Thank you very much for awarding me the Gold Medal of the Region of Murcia! I promise to keep working to live up to it! Long live the Region of Murcia!"
This isn't the first time that Alcaraz has been honored in Murcia. Just a few days ago, a large mural was painted at the entrance of his home district in El Palmar. The 19-year-old attended the official unveiling and met the Mayor of Murcia.
Alcaraz is currently recovering from an elbow injury that forced him to withdraw from the Cinch Championships at Queen's Club. This setback in his preparation for the grass-court swing is concerning.
The young Spaniard has not played a lot of grass-court tennis in his career and lost in the second round of Wimbledon last year to Daniil Medvedev. But he is expected to give a better account of himself on his second visit to the All England Club.
Alcaraz's most recent tournament was the French Open, where he reached the quarterfinal stage and lost to Alexander Zverev in four sets.
