In 1986, Carbonell won the Wimbledon junior competition alongside Petr Korda and the US Open junior competition alongside Javier Sánchez . The following year he became a professional tennis player.
In the same year he won his first of a total of 22 double titles on the ATP World Tour ; he won in Buenos Aires on the side of Sergio Casal . In 1992 he won his first individual title in Maceió . He won his second and last individual title in Casablanca in 1996 , and he was twice in a final. He reached his highest ranking in the world rankings in 1996 with position 40 in singles and 1995 with position 22 in doubles.
His best individual result in a Grand Slam tournament was reaching the third round at the French Open , Wimbledon and the US Open. In the doubles competition he reached the semi-finals of the French Open twice, in 1999 with Pablo Albano and in 2000 with Martín García . He also won the mixed title of the French Open in 2001 alongside Virginia Ruano Pascual .
Carbonell played two singles and four doubles games for the Spanish Davis Cup team between 1991 and 1996 . In the 3-2 defeat against Germany in the quarter-finals in 1994, he lost the doubles against Karsten Braasch and Michael Stich alongside Sergi Bruguera . At the 1996 Olympic Games he played doubles for Spain and reached the quarterfinals with Sergi Bruguera.