Win the French Open. Party at Ibiza. Win Wimbledon. Alcaraz living like a king at Queen’s

‘This year Ibiza was more chill,’ Carlos Alcaraz says of his annual pilgrimage to the party island before sobering up and trying to win Wimbledon.

Carlos Alcaraz is having a better run at the Queens’s tournament than previous years Picture: Getty Images

Here’s something I shall never understand when athletes complain about the perils and pitfalls of social media. Why are they on it? Nobody is pointing a pistol at their pretty little heads and demanding the publication of saccharine posts and cute photographs on Instagram and Fakebook.

Carlos Alcaraz jagged a couple of wins at Queen’s this week. Once more the ball was mellifluous upon departure from his high-voltage strings, and the fact he was still alive on the weekend, both in the draw and in general, augured well for his title defence at The Championships.

Queen’s is where Alcaraz is at his most vulnerable every year, a hazy experience, coming hot on the heels of his annual tequila-soaked, post-French Open, tonight-we’re-going-to-party-like-it’s-1999 blowout at Ibiza.

Last year was a doozy. Alcaraz was so boozy and woozy before Queen’s that he turned up in a comically weathered state. It was like a scene from The Hangover – his hotel room back in the Mediterranean might well have been strewn with empty bottles of liquor, beer cans, Bradley Cooper, one half-eaten mango, with Juan Carlos Ferrero asleep in the bathtub, a squawking chicken on the sofa and Mike Tyson’s tiger in the kitchen. Alcaraz lost in straight sets to Jack Draper before his coach, the straight-laced Ferrero, blasted him for a lack of professionalism.

“This year Ibiza was more chill,” Alcaraz said before a marathon 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 7-5 win over fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar sent him through to the quarter-finals at Queen’s. “It was fun but honestly, I rested a lot, physically and mentally. I had fun, a nice three days, but that was more than enough. Once I went to bed so late, but that was the only craziest thing. Obviously, I danced a bit, I did some shots as well, but nothing more than that. More chill and as a normal person does.”

Not a bad routine, really. Win the French Open, cut loose on Ibiza, win Wimbledon. “It’s really, really intense, the clay season,” Alcaraz said. “After Roland Garros is the best moment to go anywhere. My friends go to Ibiza every year but it doesn’t matter where you go – it’s a time to turn off your mind. After such an intense Roland Garros it was great to disconnect from everything, have fun and then come back with more energy.”

The mellifluous shotmaking, truly overflowing with a beautifully unique and deep sound of the ball upon impact with high-velocity strings, comes from a generally cheerful young chap who enjoys the interaction and connection with millions and millions of fans on social media.

The downside is the pain and misery created by the lowest common denominators of followers, the malicious mug punters who do their dough on his defeats.

“Yeah, I receive them,” Alcaraz said “When you have lost, you receive a lot of messages. Some of them are pretty good. Some of them are pretty bad. I prefer not to think about that. I learn when I lose not to see the social media that much because sometimes when I did it, when I lose a match in the first round or a match that I have not been supposed to lose, I should not have lost, and I saw the messages – yeah, affects me a lot. Sometimes it’s difficult to deal with it.”

I get the attraction of social media. JimBob222 telling you how great you are. And Alcaraz can earn a small fortune, or a bit of six-figure pocket money, from his seven million Instagram followers. At that level of fame and support, you’re paid to hit the button and promote a sponsor’s product.

I reckon the simplest and most satisfying avenue to a stress-free online existence is ditching the lot of it but I also understand Alcaraz appreciates the support and so wants to give something back. One saccharine post and cute photograph at a time.

“I learned with experience that when I lose, or the things are not going pretty good, not to see the social media that much,” he said.

“I have seen a lot of players that have received a lot of messages from the gamblers, from the people. It is the same, honestly, for all of us, that we have to live with it.

“You know, as professional athletes, we have to deal with it the best way possible. If I have to give an advice, it’s to not see the social media when the things are not going pretty well because people sometimes can be really dangerous.”

Alcaraz has agreed to join the mixed doubles revolution at the US Open. The flourishing tournament at Flushing Meadows, the most jumping and jiving of the majors, where you can hear a Paul Simon song over the loudspeakers and then peer to your right and see Paul Simon himself having a boogie, has announced a cashed-up, superstar-led focus on the format.

Seems a winner. Mixed doubles is a massively entertaining and intriguing format when the finest players are involved.

Signed up to date are Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu; Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka; probably Alex de Minaur and his flame Katie Boulter; Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic; Jannik Sinner and Emma Navarro; Frances Tiafoe and Madison Keys; Casper Ruud and Iga Swiatek; Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa; Ben Shelton and Taylor Townsend; Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina; Aryna Sabalenka and Grigor Dimitrov.

“She’s going to be the boss,” Alcaraz said of Raducanu. “She took a while to say yes. Well, not that much, but obviously she had to ask her management and she had to think a little bit.

“The US Open came to us and gave us opportunities to play mixed doubles and I’m super-excited about it. An amazing idea for the tournament. I’ve known Emma since a really long time ago and I have a really good relationship with her. It’s going to be interesting and both of us are going to enjoy it and for sure I will try to put my doubles skill on it.

“It’s going to be really, really fun and we’re going to try to win.”