Fresh from winning the 2026 Australian Open, Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz continues to fascinate fans not only with his game, but also with the unusual places that shaped his rise to the top of world tennis. One of the most talked-about is a 90-square-metre prefabricated wooden house located inside the Equelite Tennis Academy in Villena (Alicante), Spain, where Alcaraz spent key years of his development.
Rather than a luxury mansion, Alcaraz’s early professional life was closely linked to the academy founded by former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero. According to Marca, the residence sits inside a vast 120,000 m² sports complex, just 30 minutes from the Mediterranean coast, designed to train elite tennis players in a focused, professional environment.
The Equelite Academy, also known as the Ferrero Tennis Academy, has hosted well-known players such as Pablo Carreño, Emilio Nava, Nicolás Almagro and Guillermo García-López. Its facilities include 20 tennis courts, a fully equipped gym, restaurant, swimming pool, study rooms, a school, landscaped gardens and rustic prefabricated houses where players train and stay during their time at the centre.
According to La Vanguardia, Alcaraz first stayed in a compact 25 m² prefab unit during the coronavirus lockdown. As his career accelerated, he moved into a larger 90 m² wooden house, a property that had previously been used by Ferrero himself during his own period as world number one in 2003. The house became part of Alcaraz’s daily routine while training and developing at Equelite.
Although Alcaraz now competes globally on the ATP Tour and stopped working with Juan Carlos Ferrero, Equelite remains one of the most important places in his story. It is where his discipline, physical preparation and competitive mentality were forged before lifting Grand Slam trophies such as the French Open and, most recently, the 2026 Australian Open.
With expansion plans subject to urban approval, the academy continues to be a reference point in Spanish tennis, proving that even future world champions can come from surprisingly simple beginnings — including a modest wooden house hidden inside a high-performance tennis complex.
Where does Carlos Alcaraz live? Inside the home that shaped Spain’s tennis sensation
After lifting the 2026 Australian Open trophy and becoming the youngest tennis player to complete the career grand slam, Carlos Alcaraz has further cemented his status as one of the most dominant players in world tennis. Already a 7-time Grand Slam champion, the Spaniard continues to attract attention not only for his performances on court, but also for his lifestyle away from the spotlight.