Melbourne, Feb 1 (IANS) Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz made tennis history on Sunday, winning his maiden Australian Open men’s singles title and in the process, becoming the youngest professional tennis player to achieve a career Grand Slam.
Carlos Alcaraz achieved a Melbourne milestone, overcoming a shaky start to defeat Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 and claim his first title at the season’s first Grand Slam tournament. By inflicting a first defeat on Djokovic in 11 Australian Open finals, the 22-year-old Alcaraz became the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam, which is achieved by lifting the trophy at all four majors, in the open era.
The World No.1 roared back into action after an uncharacteristically flat opening set in which Djokovic came out firing. Alcaraz locked in from the baseline to take control of his first Australian Open final. The Spaniard broke his rival’s serve twice to win the second set and appeared back to his free-flowing best in a third set featuring several stunning all-court exchanges in one of the best final encounters in Melbourne in recent times.
Djokovic dug deep in the fourth set and fended off six break points to hold in the second game. However, the 38-year-old was unable to counter and maintain his perfect championship-match record at the Rod Laver Arena and went down fighting.
Alcaraz broke decisively in the 12th game of the fourth set to seal a three-hour, two-minute triumph and ensured Djokovic’s wait for a record 25th Grand Slam title continues.
Alcaraz is now a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, making him level with his fellow ATP No. 1 club member John McEnroe and Mats Wilander on the all-time list. The Spaniard’s Melbourne victory continued the stranglehold that he and his great rival Jannik Sinner have had on the majors in recent years: the pair have won the past nine Grand Slam titles between them, dating back to Djokovic’s triumph at the 2023 US Open. Sinner lost to Djokovic in the 2026 Australian Open semifinals.
Djokovic came out fresh and strong despite playing a marathon five-set semifinal against 2024 and 2025 champion Jannik Sinner on Friday night and pummeled the ball aggressively from the first game. The 38-year-old Serbian, who was bidding to lift an all-time record 25th Grand Slam trophy and also become the oldest winner of the men’s singles title at a major in the Open Era, barely put a foot wrong in a statement opening-set display.
Just as he had against Sinner, Djokovic came out determined to dictate play with his forehand, and the Serbian carved out the opening three break points of the set in the fourth game. Although Alcaraz held his nerve to fend off the first two, Djokovic prevailed in an extended baseline rally on the third to gain an early advantage.
Alcaraz himself contested the longest semifinal in tournament history on Friday against Alexander Zverev, and he delivered a low-energy opening set. Djokovic expertly capitalised on his momentum by breaking his opponent’s serve again in the eighth game to clinch a set in which he dropped just two points behind serve, according to Infosys Stats.
The Spaniard became the eighth player to complete a career Grand Slam, joining Fred Perry (1935), Don Budge (1938), Rod Laver (1962), Roy Emerson (1964), Andre Agassi (1999), Roger Federer (2009), Rafael Nadal (2010), and Djokovic (2015). Of these, Budge and Lever bagged the Grand Slam in a calendar year.
–IANS
bsk/
