Carlos Alcaraz has been named the 2026 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
The Spaniard, who won Roland Garros and the US Open last year, won the prestigious individual award ahead of Jannik Sinner, Ousmane Dembele, Tadej Pogacar, Armand Duplantis and Marc Marquez.
Despite being only 22 years old, Alcaraz has already won almost every major honour available to him.
However, one accolade missing from Alcaraz’s resume is an Olympic gold medal.
The Spaniard came close to clinching gold at the 2024 Olympics, losing the singles final to Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz also played in the men’s doubles event alongside Rafael Nadal. The pair lost in the quarter-finals to Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.
While talking to MARCA and La Gazzetta dello Sport at the Laureus Awards ceremony, Alcaraz discussed the possibility of playing mixed doubles at the Olympics.
Carlos Alcaraz says he is ‘unlikely’ to play Olympic mixed doubles in the future
“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 were to change his mind ahead of the 2028 Olympics, he could partner with Cristina Bucsa.
Bucsa is the highest ranked Spanish player on the women’s singles and doubles tours: ranked 30th in singles and 19th in doubles.
Of course, the landscape of Spanish tennis may have changed completely by the 2028 Olympics: new Spanish faces may have emerged and become mainstays at the top end of the WTA Tour.
Should Carlos Alcaraz skip Roland Garros if he’s not 100% fit?
Who won the 2024 Olympic Mixed Doubles title?
Czech pair Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova won the 2024 Olympic Mixed Doubles title.
The pair began the event by causing an almighty upset, beating top seeds Laura Siegemund and Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-5.
The Czechs then knocked out Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Ena Shibahara, 7-5, 6-2.
Victory against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski followed – pitting the Czechs against China’s Xin Wang and Zhizhen Zhang in the gold medal match.
Machac and Siniakova emerged victorious, beating the Chinese pair 6-2, 5-7, 10-8.
Speaking to the Daily Express shortly after winning gold, Machac heaped praise on his doubles partner.
Siniakova is an 11-time Grand Slam champion across women’s doubles and mixed doubles, and is the 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, so for me,” Machac told the British newspaper.
“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.”
