🏫 Carlos Alcaraz as an Elementary School Student — Described by his Teachers

Hi! This is a compilation of all the interviews I've found that were done with Carlitos’ elementary school teachers. There are five in total; three of them were video interviews. They were all in Spanish, so I’ve transcribed (the videos) and translated everything into English.

I wanted to present them to you as they are, instead of summarizing them. I’ve made minimal cuts to streamline them, but I haven’t altered anything.

Background info: He completed his elementary education from age three to sixth grade (2006–2014; so until he was 11 years old) at CEIP Ciudad de la Paz, a school located in his hometown, El Palmar.

They're in chronological order. The first three interviews all took place in May 2022, when Carlos had just become the Madrid Open champion and risen to No. 6. The last one is from June 2024.

1) "'Humble and Shy' - Carlos Alcaraz’s Primary School Teacher Describes Him"

May 9, 2022 - Ya Es Mediodía [Video Interview] (Link)

Reporter: Nerves, excitement, a lot of joy, pride, and a few sleepy faces—that’s what I’ve seen this morning among the residents of El Palmar, because they were celebrating until quite late. Two thousand people gathered in the streets to watch the match, to support Carlos, and also to celebrate. In countless businesses around the district, I’ve seen photographs of the tennis player—they’re extremely proud of him. And I decided to sneak into none other than his school, Ciudad de la Paz, where he spent nine years. Look at this mural, completely improvised [shows mural with photos of Carlos during his school years, and lots of notes with positive messages written by the students]. This morning the students made it, giving him a ton of positive and lovely adjectives… brave, incredible, friendly, legend. As you can see, there are photos of him at school with his lifelong friends, and right now we are joined here by none other than Loli, who was his homeroom teacher, and also his physical education teacher, Carlos. What does this mean to you? It’s a real source of pride, isn’t it?

Loli: Hello, good afternoon. Well yes, pride… and a lot of joy. I feel a lot of joy and pride, because we already knew he was going to be great, and he is great. So I am very, very happy.

Reporter: And then, on the other hand, what was this boy like when he was very young? How did he handle sports? Because, as Carlos already mentioned to me earlier, Carlitos was a machine at everything he tried.

Carlos: Yes, honestly, he was a machine both physically and athletically. Any sport we practiced with him, he always stood out above the rest. Here, he became the municipal champion, municipal cross-country runner-up at school, and he was also the regional badminton champion, both individually and with the Ciudad de la Paz School team. So whatever he did, he always excelled.

Reporter: We were talking earlier—he was competitive, but in a good way, right?

Loli: Yes, yes, competitive but in a good way. Very humble, shy even—he didn’t like to boast. In fact, we always used to say, “You won in Croatia, didn’t you? Carlos, where’s the trophy? Bring the trophy, man.” No, he never brought trophies; all his championships, he never, ever brought the trophy. However, when it was with the school, he loved going around with his classmates, showing the trophy from class to class—that, he enjoyed—but doing that with his own, personal trophies embarrassed him a lot. He has always been extremely, extremely humble.

Reporter: And now he becomes champion and proudly puts the name of El Palmar and Murcia out there for everyone to see, for everyone to know.

Loli: Carlos is very lovely. He’s lovely, wonderful on the inside and on the outside. And he comes from an exemplary family—a family that has always educated him in good values. Moreover, this school really emphasizes values as well. Being a good friend, being humble—all of that, well, in the end, that was a little seed that has flourished beautifully and is growing really well.

Reporter: And I don’t know, Loli, if you guys have any plans to welcome him when he can come to El Palmar.

Loli: Well, we’re just taking everything normally here. This morning this happened [gestures to the mural]… we actually had the mural prepared since the beginning of the school year because we keep track of the badminton winners and things like that. And then this morning, as the kids were coming into class, they were saying, “Carlos, champion!”, “Legend!”, “Handsome!” So it came about that we put everything on a poster and had them describe him in a single word. But he needs to be able to come back to his town, to his home, with his family, in peace, normalcy—he needs that too.

2) "Loli, Carlos Alcaraz’s Homeroom Teacher in El Palmar: 'He Was Ambitious and Humble'"

May 10, 2022 - Antena 3 [Video Interview] (Link)

Reporter: What was Carlos like as a student?

Loli: Well, just like now—an excellent student, truly excellent… and an excellent pupil as well. Honestly, we’re all very happy.

Reporter: He was already standing out, and you helped him, right? Because he was competing even outside of Spain, and you helped him balance it with his studies.

Loli: Well, even as a little boy he was already playing tennis and practicing it seriously. And in 5th and 6th grade [ages 10–12], he had championships, and there were weeks when he might miss school for a week, or even up to ten days. Yes, we made a special schedule for him. Another thing was… he would come back and I’d ask, “What did you do, Carlos?” And he would say, “Nothing, I couldn’t do anything, teacher, I was too tired. I didn’t even watch cartoons.”

Reporter: But you just told us he got good grades, that he was a good student, right?

Loli: Yes, but that’s what was amazing. I mean, maybe—look—he’d be in class for a week, we’d start a new unit, and then he might have to go to Croatia or Palma de Mallorca. So I would schedule everything he needed to do every day. And when he came back, maybe a written test would be due, and I’d say, “Okay, don’t take the test now then; we’ll review first.” And he’d say, “Give me the test first, and then we’ll see how I did.” And he’d get a 7 or 8 out of 10. He was a very focused child—focused on his studies, on his tennis, on his school sports… very, very dedicated. He has always given his all.

Reporter: And you’ve known him and worked with him since he was little… Loli, there are things about him that remind me of Rafa Nadal—what you say, the consistency, the humility… that sense of never giving up a match, right? That no champion is too big for him to beat. I don’t know where all that comes from—you say it’s the family instilling values, the school. Where does it come from?

Loli: From there, honestly. His parents have always worked with him, his coaches… He’s been surrounded by people who have supported him and kept him where he is, working hard, and instilling many values. Empathy has been worked on a lot, and he carries it—he really does. The other day I heard a reporter say, “He’s ambitious… but humble.” And that’s exactly it: he’s ambitious personally, but very humble. He has gestures that come naturally… considering his opponent, thinking about the ball kids who were getting wet… all those little things have been there since he was small. I was saying yesterday… It's a seed that has been planted, and now it’s flourishing. And let’s not forget, he’s a teenager, only 19 years old. But he has those gestures, and that’s why everyone likes him so much and is falling in love with him.

Reporter: Yes, yes, I have to tell you that I fell in love with him during the match against Nadal, because, you know, it felt like he was almost hesitant to celebrate the victory against Nadal… his idol. He admitted that emotionally it had been a very difficult match for him, and it was like he didn’t want his euphoria to show too much, so he was very restrained. But in later finals, I’ve seen him thrilled, happy and jumping, right? …but against Nadal it was like, “oh my God… I grew up admiring Nadal...”

[...]

Loli: That's how they [tennis players] define themselves. The high level of demand, the discipline. Behind all of this, there’s a lot of effort. A lot of work. Immense effort. Because when he was little, I used to ask him, “Is it worth it?” Because many times he was exhausted. And he’d say, “Yes.” I mean, he had it very clear. It left me speechless—there was nothing more to say. He’d tell me, “I just like it.”

Reporter: That’s wonderful. Well, Loli, congratulations on the part you played—for helping shape the champion we have in Carlitos Alcaraz.

3) "The Rise of Carlos Alcaraz, the Boy Who Played Tennis Even at His Desk in Class"

May 27, 2022 - Huffpost [Written Interview] (Link)

“He’s had a passion for this sport from the very beginning. You’d see him making racket motions with his wrist while he was at his desk or waiting for classmates,” recalls his 5th and 6th grade teacher, Loli Moreno.

Virtudes Muñoz, the headteacher at Ciudad de la Paz during Carlos’s time at the school, describes the athlete as “a humble, calm, and consistent boy.” “At 10 years old he was very focused on his goals, and he’s the perfect example of someone determined who doesn’t give up. And that’s exactly what you see on the tennis court,” she says.

4) “The Secrets of Loli, Carlos Alcaraz’s Primary School Teacher”

September 27, 2022 - El Español [Written Interview] (Link)

[Here are only some extracted lines and paragraphs, to avoid repetition]

Loli — Language, Math, Social Studies, Art, and Science teacher:

• “At school, he wasn’t a kid who wanted to be a leader, like other children who try to draw attention, but Carlitos was a natural leader because the whole class liked him.” 
• “He was very competitive, he didn’t want to lose even at playing caps” she recalls with a laugh.
• “Carlitos was amazing at everything: he gave one hundred percent in everything he did at school.” He also stood out for his sportsmanship in the victories he achieved in interschool competitions, just as he demonstrates in every ATP match now, whether he wins or loses. “He didn’t kick someone when they were down.”

Carlos — P.E teacher: 

• I taught him from first through sixth grade [ages 6-12]. He was a brilliant student, a child who, from the very beginning, showed he was gifted and had innate abilities for any sport: he played soccer well, he was a machine when running… He was always ahead of his classmates. For example, if I started teaching volleyball, Carlitos was the first to learn how to volley, and it was the same with badminton.
• So much so that he became regional badminton champion the first time he played the sport. “Carlitos had never competed before. I run a badminton school, and in sixth grade I taught him the match dynamics. In the final, he played against a registered player, and he moved as if he were on a tennis court—but he completely dominated.” He also finished as runner-up in Murcia’s cross-country races two years in a row.
• What quality would I highlight about him as a student? He had exemplary behavior: he never wanted to be above anyone else. He’s a kid who has something different from the athletes we’re used to seeing.

5) “Loli and Carlos, Teachers at Carlos Alcaraz’s School, Reveal What the Tennis Player Was Like as a Child”

June 10, 2024 - La Sexta [Video Interview] (Link)

Reporter: Carlos, I understand you were his physical education teacher. Could you already see it—did you imagine at 12 years old that Carlos would become the phenomenon he is now?

Carlos: Well, at the school we all knew, because we were in frequent contact with his father, and he would tell us, “This weekend he went to such-and-such a place,” or “he achieved this and that.” From a very early age he was getting better results than Rafa Nadal.

Reporter: I’m sure little Alcaraz was hardworking and consistent, but tell me the truth—was there a mischievous Carlitos? I mean, you who were his teachers, what was the biggest mess he got up to in class that you remember, for example?

Carlos: Well, to be honest, one time when we were doing badminton, he got the idea to pick up a stone and hit the badminton racket with it, and of course that cuts the strings and it breaks.

Reporter: Great idea, damn—good thing he didn’t stick with that, right? So, when he’s walking through town and you run into him and grab him like, “Oh, you were such a lovely kid! You’re such a wonderful person!” and all that—is he the type who stays and chats and is friendly, or does he get embarrassed because everyone stops him and he runs off?

Loli: Well, Carlos is a charming young man. This past Christmas he was here at the school too, and he came to visit us, to deliver a jersey for the parents’ association to raffle. And everyone who bumps into him—he’s always smiling, he takes photos with anyone who asks, no bad attitude at all, and he’s never had one, you know? I mean, he’s a young man who is effortlessly personable… he has many abilities. Some are the ones you’re all seeing now, but he has others that are just innate in him.

Reporter: And was he a good student, or was he better with a racket than with integrals?

Loli: Well, now… integrals are for second-year Bachillerato students [ages 17-18]. And we’re talking about elementary school level, up until he was with us.

Reporter: So that means no, right?

Loli: He was a very good student, a very good student.

Reporter: *shocked face*

Loli: One of Carlos’s traits is that he learns quickly. He’s very intense—he was a very intense child. His schedule was always tight. When he was at school, he was focused on school, super intense. Having a great time, but studying in a way that made the most of the time he had here, because he was off at championships and had a lot to do outside of school. So he was good both with a racket and here at school.

*The reporters joke, talking over each other: that it’s almost annoying how good he was at everything, and they almost wish he had been a bad student—that he’s perfect.*

Translator Notes:

• I’ve made minimal changes, only occasionally skipping lines that didn’t provide any new or useful information. All bold emphasis mine.

• I tried my best, I hope it was clear and engaging to read!

• As a sidenote, since you can’t hear them, I just want to share that the last interview (June 2024) gave me a weird vibe because, imo, you can tell the reporters were expecting to portray Carlos in a certain light and were surprised, or even a bit annoyed, to find out he wasn’t like they had imagined him to be (a bad student, a troublesome kid)

• Also, thanks to Loli and Carlos for being so nice—they were so fond and admiring when talking about Carlitos <3