Carlos Alcaraz reveals if he plans to play Olympic mixed doubles again

Carlos Alcaraz has been awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for 2026.

He beat out competition from Jannik Sinner, Ousmane Dembele, Tadej Pogacar, Armand Duplantis and Marc Marquez for the honour. The recognition comes after a remarkable 2025 season where he captured both the Roland Garros and US Open titles.

At just 22 years old, Alcaraz has nearly completed his list of career goals in the sport.

But one thing still missing is an Olympic gold medal.

He had a shot at it during the Paris Games in 2024 but was beaten in the singles final by Novak Djokovic. He also competed in doubles with Rafael Nadal, where they made it to the quarter-finals before losing to Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek from the United States.

Alcaraz doubtful about future mixed doubles at the Olympics

“I’ve already been to the Olympics. If I hadn’t, I would have said yes [to playing mixed doubles.] Alcaraz said while in conversation with reporters in Cibeles Palace, Madrid.

“But having already experienced them, how demanding doubles and singles are… the fact that it’s only a week and a half or a week and you have to play two matches on the same day, or sometimes three if it’s mixed doubles, is too much.

“I remember arriving at the final in Paris quite exhausted, especially mentally.”

“It’s unlikely I’ll be able to play.”

If Alcaraz changes his mind before then, his most likely partner could be Cristina Bucsa. Bucsa is currently Spain’s top-ranked women’s player in both singles and doubles, sitting 30th in singles and 19th in doubles.

2024 Olympic mixed doubles title

The gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2024 Olympics went to Czech duo Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova.

Their tournament began with a big upset, as they knocked out top seeds Laura Siegemund and Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-5.

They followed that up by defeating Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Ena Shibahara, 7-5, 6-2.

After that, they beat Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski to advance to the final against China’s Xin Wang and Zhizhen Zhang.

Machac and Siniakova held their nerve in a tight match, winning 6-2, 5-7, 10-8 to claim the gold medal.

Speaking to the Daily Express after their victory, Machac was quick to praise Siniakova’s experience and skill.

Siniakova is an eleven-time Grand Slam champion across women’s doubles and mixed doubles. She is also a former world number one. “She’s – I will not say one of the best – I think she’s the best doubles player who ever played,” Machac told them.

“I couldn’t have had a better partner to play [with]. And for us, I think that two weeks was very interesting and the story was beautiful at that time. It’s good to play with her in the doubles for sure.”

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