A video of Carlos Alcaraz's younger brother Jaime on the court went viral on social media, but the four-time Grand Slam champion is worried about pressure being placed on his sibling.
Alcaraz has three brothers, one older and two younger than him. He is known to be close with his family, speaking in interviews about how doing everyday things with them means a lot to him when he is at home.
The tennis superstar does not spend as much time in Spain as he would like. Alcaraz feels the tennis calendar is too long and even confessed to not wanting to attend some tournaments because he felt fatigued.
He is currently in Saudi Arabia, competing at the Six Kings Slam Exhibition. Some might think this is hypocritical after his scheduling complaints, but Taylor Fritz defended him, saying that ATP Tour tournaments and exhibitions should not be compared.
Alcaraz dominated in his opening match of the event against Holger Rune, showing how improved his level has been since suffering a surprising defeat at the US Open to the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
After beating Rune, Alcaraz was asked about a clip on social media circulating of Jaime playing. Although the world No. 2 admitted that his brother plays well at the age of 13, he also wants social media users to not put undue pressure on him.
“I just want all the people or all the social media to just leave him alone because he plays well but it’s not the best. So for me, I’m a little bit worried for the people who are around him during the tournament that they're gonna go to watch him because he’s my brother and then he'll probably put pressure on himself."
“Yeah he plays well, I’m not gonna lie. He’s getting to a really good level. But honestly there are a lot of people around, a lot of videos and accounts from social media that are saying that he’s going to be similar to his brother and I don’t really like that you know in that way."
Alcaraz stated that his brother loves playing tennis and promised to be there for Jaime during any pressure that emerges from others to try and emulate him and his achievements.
So, let’s see how he's gonna handle it. I’ll be there for him for sure. He loves tennis and every time he can, he goes to court, he asks my father to go court and hit some balls. For me that’s great, that he loves playing tennis and let’s see if he’s gonna get better and better and hopefully one year I'll play against him."
The Wimbledon champion also spoke about Jaime having the same haircut in the clip that circulated on social media. Alcaraz said his mother told him that Jaime asked the barber to make his hair like Carlos'.
“His haircut I hear because I don’t spend too much time at home, so I hear from my mother that he asked the barber to make him the same hair as me. So it is funny and hilarious."