In absence of Carlos Alcaraz, meet the Spanish star ready to ‘explode’ in Madrid

Carlos Alcaraz will be absent from the Madrid Open this week, but that is not to say there won’t be huge Spanish interest in events in thecapital,especially if Martin Landaluce can source enough tickets for his relatives to join him inside the Caja Mágica. “We are a huge family, like 30 or 40 cousins, and many of them live in Madrid,” the 20-year-old grins. Landaluce’s smile carries fresh confidence, and no wonder: he has just entered the world’s top 100 for the first time.

Alcaraz is not yet 23 but the next generation of Spanish talent is already beginning to ride the seven-time grand slam champion’s wave. In this season’s rankings, there are seven players under the age of 21 in the world’s 100 and two of them are Spanish, in Landaluce and his younger friend and rival, the 19-year-old Rafael Jodar. Both are former US Open junior champions. Landaluce’s triumph came in 2022, on the same weekend as Alcaraz won his grand slam title in New York; Jodar then followed in 2023.

Returning to Madrid, the city of his birth, is always “special” for Landaluce. It’s a tournament that is circled in red on his calendar but he accepts this year feels different. He may still be a wildcard entry, but Landaluce can say he’s earned his place, and proved his worth. Last month, at the Miami Open, Landaluce recorded the best result of his career with a breakthrough run from qualifying. Arriving in Florida as the world No 151, he became the lowest-ranked quarter-finalist in Miami in 32 years.

Before Miami, Landaluce had recorded just two Tour-level victories. He finished the week with four in a row, including top-20 wins against Luciano Darderi and Karen Khachanov and from match point down against Sebastian Korda, who had beaten Alcaraz in the previous round. Where did it come from? “In Miami I connected everything,” the Red Bull athlete says. “For many years I was saying, ‘I know my level is good, the ranking and the points and the tournaments, they will come, they will come…’” But Miami brought a shift in mentality. “I said, ‘OK, I want it now’,” he explains.

Listed at 6’4” and with a curly mop of blonde hair on top of his long frame, Landaluce found confidence in his aggression from the baseline, his natural attacking game released by playing as if he had nothing to lose. There can sometimes be more pressure scrapping away in the lower-ranked Challengers and Futures, especially as a former junior No 1. But he is reminded that he has set himself a benchmark. “These past few years, I’ve been doing the jumps that I needed to escalate in the ranks, and every time my dad says, ‘OK, now it’s time for the big jump’. Every time it’s tougher.”

Landaluce reveals how he received the same encouragement from his idol and mentor, Rafael Nadal. He has trained at Nadal’s academy in Manacor since he was 14, leaving home to chase a dream that was sparked by sitting on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the age of 12 and watching the great Spaniard destroying all opponents on his way to another French Open title. Landaluce still pinches himself at the memory of the first time he shared a court with Nadal. “To watch him play Roland Garros and then, after two years, I was practising with him on clay…” he laughs. “It was a shock.”

Even then, Nadal would take notice of the juniors hitting balls as he made his way around the grounds between his own sessions. “If he’s watching you and sees something that you can improve, he’s going to tell you,” Landaluce says. Recently, Nadal shared his knowledge on improving his footwork and slice, and was impressed when the 20-year-old put those tips into practice in Miami. Landaluce received a voice note from Nadal after his quarter-final run, and it sounded a lot like his father does. “He told me to keep going, that this is only the beginning, like my dad says.”

Alcaraz is also an important point of reference for Landaluce and other young Spaniards, even though the world No 2 is really still a kid himself. But Alcaraz has dealt with hype since his mid-teens, emerging into the spotlight as a blazing 18-year-old when he defeated Nadal and Novak Djokovic back-to-back to win the Madrid Open. A few weeks ago, Alcaraz invited Landaluce to his base in Murcia to practice for the clay season. He has also been forthcoming with advice. “He’s had all this pressure since he’s 16. He’s a very nice guy, very humble, and we all try to take little things [from] him to grow as fast as he did.”

Landaluce is not alone in attempting to follow his path. Jodar has reached a career-high 42 in the world after winning an ATP 250 event in Marrakech and continued his winning streak at the Barcelona Open last week. In doing so, he joined Nadal and Alcaraz as the fifth Spanish teenager to reach the Barcelona semi-finals. “He’s playing amazing,” Landaluce says. “He plays much harder and faster than the other players, he’s not missing.” Landaluce and Jodar have known each other since they were children, and he does not shy away from the suggestion that they are developing a “healthy rivalry”.

“For sure, I think we both push each other,” he says. “We’ve been like rivals since we were nine and friends also. It’s really nice to see him on the tour, doing well. He saw my results, my early results these past years and he was like, yeah, I can do it also. It’s nice that we’re both climbing the rankings.” Landaluce’s rise should lead to a main draw entry at Wimbledon, which is a major target: his favourite surface is grass, owing to a 15-match winning run as a junior that included titles in Nottingham, Roehampton and reaching the boys’ semi-finals in SW19 in 2022.

It’s the red dirt, though, that offers the first opportunity for Landaluce to show how far he has come. Four years to the month since Alcaraz’s spellbinding breakthrough at Caja Mágica, the Magic Box, a home hope believes it can be his turn. “I think I can do very well and beat the top guys in the world, even more in Madrid, playing at home, on a fast court,” he says. “Now, again, there’s a big jump to do, one more time. But my confidence is rising, it’s much higher, and I think now is the time to explode.”