NIKE TO LAUNCH CARLOS ALCARAZ SIGNATURE BRAND FOLLOWING CAREER GRAND SLAM
Carlos Alcaraz’s Australian Open win drew 730,000 US viewers, sparking predictions that he will become tennis’s next billionaire.
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The closing rounds of the Australian Open really grabbed the world’s attention, and the U.S. TV numbers for the men’s final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic prove it. Even with no American players in the mix, the showdown drew 730,000 viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen. That’s a whopping 57% jump from last year’s Jannik Sinner vs. Alexander Zverev final—despite the brutal 3:30 a.m. ET start time.
It’s the biggest American audience for an Australian Open men’s final since 2017, back when Roger Federer outlasted Rafael Nadal in a five-set classic that pulled in 1.1 million viewers.
The women’s final between Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka also ticked up, pulling 487,000 viewers—an 8% increase from 2025—even though Madison Keys, an American, beat Sabalenka that year.
Alcaraz’s win has cranked up his status as a marketing powerhouse. Brand expert Jack Kenney-Herbert from Sid Lee in London told Tennis365 that Alcaraz is now “the perfect commercial storm”—a 22-year-old Career Grand Slam winner with a digital reach the old “Big Three” never had when they started. With whispers of a signature logo coming from Nike, Kenney-Herbert thinks Alcaraz has already stepped beyond the sport into global-icon territory. His brand value is sky-high, and with his age and the money now in tennis, Kenney-Herbert says Alcaraz is on track to break earning records and become the most marketable athlete of his generation.
If Alcaraz keeps winning on the court and making smart moves off it, Kenney-Herbert says he isn’t just chasing trophies—he’s on track to join Federer as tennis’s next billionaire.
He’s already signed on with Rolex, BMW, Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, and Evian. After this latest win, those deals are set to pay out bonuses and get even more valuable when renewal talks come up. Now Nike is reportedly planning to launch an Alcaraz signature brand, putting him in rare company with Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan—guys with their own apparel lines. And this might just be the beginning.
He looks ready to follow Federer’s path. Federer became tennis’s first billionaire, partly thanks to his move from Nike to take a stake in On, a then-small footwear company. Federer’s involvement helped turn On into a $20 billion giant, with his own share now rumoured to be worth $1 billion. Alcaraz could be next in line to make that kind of splash.
WHY COCO GAUFF STILL BATTLES "IMPOSTOR SYNDROME" DESPITE ELEVEN WTA CAREER TITLES
Coco Gauff opens up about her serve struggles and mental hurdles after a gritty quarter-final win over Bencic.
Coco Gauff opened up about feeling “impostor syndrome” and wondering if she really deserves her spot among the best on the WTA Tour.
After beating Belinda Bencic (ranked 12th) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the Miami Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, she talked honestly about those doubts. Gauff has fought through each Miami match in three sets, taking down Sorana Cirstea, Alycia Parks, and Elisabetta Cocciaretto before facing Bencic.
Her team actually didn’t want her to play the tournament in Florida since a “nerve-related” arm injury cut her run short at Indian Wells, but she pushed forward anyway. She’s still working through issues with her serve and sometimes her forehand, and since August, she’s been teaming up with biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan.
Even with these technical struggles, Gauff – who just turned 22 this month – already has an impressive resume. She’s snagged 11 singles titles on the WTA Tour, including two Grand Slams, the WTA Finals, and three WTA 1000 trophies. She’s also climbed as high as No. 2 in the world rankings.
After her win against Bencic, reporters asked what it meant for her to get through four tough matches, especially after coming back from injury. Gauff said, “Honestly, it just shows my mentality. It all comes down to what’s in your head, really.”
She added, “Sometimes I have to remind myself that I belong here. I get impostor syndrome, and when they announce my achievements during warm-up, I almost feel detached, like, ‘Wait, I actually have a good career.’ But in the moment, you’re so focused on working stuff out, especially my serve, that it just feels... I don’t know, like maybe I shouldn’t be here. But tennis doesn’t lie; the ball doesn’t lie. I just have to trust myself, and my coach keeps telling me, ‘Remember who you are; you’re a good player.’ They’ve drilled that in. Sometimes I believe it, sometimes I don’t. So I’m just trying to believe it more.”
Gauff is chasing her first Miami Open title, and next up is world No. 14 Karolina Muchova in the semi-finals.
THE NADAL SHIELD: RAFA’S BLUNT MESSAGE TO FANS: "STOP EXPECTING CARLOS ALCARAZ TO WIN EVERY MATCH"
Carlos Alcaraz faces criticism after a Miami Open exit, but Rafael Nadal defends the World No. 1 and his 7 Slams.
Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his 2026 season in style. He finally completed the career Grand Slam at the Australian Open, then rolled through Doha to pick up another trophy. No one could touch him for his first 16 matches of the year. That streak finally snapped in the Indian Wells semi-finals when Daniil Medvedev took him down.
After that, things got a little rocky. Alcaraz, still holding onto the world No. 1 ranking, got knocked out early in Miami. He won just one match there before Sebastian Korda sent him packing. It was déjà vu; last year, he lost his very first match at the Hard Rock Stadium to David Goffin.
So after that hot streak, Alcaraz has dropped two of his last three matches. The Miami loss to Korda stung, especially after Alcaraz clawed back in the second set to force a decider. But Korda, ranked 36th in the world, kept his cool and closed it out in three sets: 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Alcaraz never really looked settled and kept chatting nervously with his team the whole time.
Still, don’t expect Rafael Nadal to hit the panic button. The Spanish legend, 22-time Grand Slam champ, now retired, shrugged off concerns about Alcaraz’s Miami slip-up. Asked point-blank about the third-round exit, Nadal didn’t mince words.
“He just won the Australian Open, has seven Slams, is No. 1 in the world... So what? Do we expect him to win every single match all year? That’s not how it works. There’s your answer,” Nadal told reporters after picking up an honorary doctorate in Madrid.
Nadal knows that world No. 1 pressure better than anyone. And at 39, he’s urging everyone to ease up.
“Are we really bothered by two losses? That makes no sense. We can’t keep asking more and more from him,” Nadal said. “We should just congratulate Carlos and thank him for what he’s doing.”
He went on: “He’s pulling off things for Spanish sport that, 25 or 30 years back, none of us could have dreamed of. Maybe we’re getting spoiled, but I’ve never lost sight of how hard what Carlos and any top athlete do really is.”
Alcaraz’s early exit did open the door for another Spanish story in Miami. Martin Landaluce, ranked 151 and a Rafa Nadal Academy graduate, qualified for his first ATP quarter-final. He upset two top-20 seeds, Luciano Darderi and Karen Khachanov, then took out Korda, the same guy who’d toppled Alcaraz.
Landaluce credits Nadal and the academy for his breakthrough. “I’ve been training at Rafa’s place since I was 14. I definitely picked up some of his mentality, that Spanish fighting spirit, most of all. Watching him, hitting with him, getting advice, and just seeing how hard he trains day after day has really left a mark on me,” he said.
