There’s always a Michael Jordan image to apply to any situation. For Carlos Alcaraz winning his first Roland Garros title, it is the image of His Airness shooting hoops in an empty United Center. Through an injury, the 21-year-old powered through on the clay – an advantage he grew up playing on – and won the French Open. And now he’s the youngest man to win Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces. He made a poignant statement of ‘fight and suffer’ to win, despite the physical glitches hampering him. When he accomplished that, he had a locker room photoshoot with his trophy and MJ tee.

When asked about how Michael Jordan inspires him to win, the Spaniard said, “I just said I love Michael Jordan because of his game, everything he’s done for the sport, his mentality, his quotes. And I’ll try to take it to [my] personal life as well.”

The imagery of Jordan practicing on his own in a darkened arena is not the same as a young Alcaraz playing on the clay surface of his hometown in Murcia. He was proudest to emulate his childhood hero, Rafael Nadal when he lifted the title. With a pause to treat his leg injury, Alcaraz won 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 against Germany’s Alexander Zverev.

He had not played for a month before Roland Garros due to issues in his right forearm that caused him to miss recent events. He was seen wearing a support throughout the tournament. Through this, he said, “You have to find joy in suffering.”

He joked after the win that there was more suffering than joy but it was hard-fought. And channeling Jordan was extremely beneficial in this Grand Slam as it served him before.

Carlos Alcaraz embodies His Airness

One of the best statements Alcaraz made recently was arriving in Australia wearing a t-shirt of Michael Jordan in the locker room after three-peating in 1993. The message was he was ready to win his third Grand Slam at the Australian Open. He lost in the quarter-finals to Zverev only for them to clash in Paris once more and Alcaraz won his third title.

Justifying that t-shirt is a whole other feeling for Alcaraz, who last year donned Jordan Brand gear when he said, “I’ve watched a lot of videos and everybody knows Michael, what he did to the game. He was something unbelievable. I huge fan of him, huge fan of his clothes as well, as you can see.” Signed under Nike, he’s not obligated to sport Jumpman apparel but he wears it for the sheer admiration he has for MJ.

And when prodded if he considers MJ the GOAT, Alcaraz didn’t even believe that had to be asked. “Is not a doubt that he’s one of those.” Clearly, tapping into Jordan in both style and words is helping Carlos Alcaraz achieve GOAT status one step at a time.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.