This year, the 2026 Australian Open, held in Melbourne, Australia, was full of exciting wins and shocking defeats. The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year for professional players and was held from January 18 to February 1. Over the three weeks of the tournament, players competed through hot weather and hours-long matches. The returning champions, American Madison Keys on the women’s side and Italian Jannik Sinner on the men’s, returned to Melbourne in hopes of defending their titles. In the end, neither were successful in defending, as Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz came out victorious. For Alcaraz, this victory was more than just winning a title; it was a Career Slam, meaning he has now won at least one of each Grand Slam: the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Not only did Alcaraz achieve the Career Slam, but he did so at the age of 23.
This isn’t the first time Alcaraz has triumphed at a young age. Alcaraz turned pro in 2018 at age 15 and won his first tour-level match in early 2020, at 16. In 2021, he won his first Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) title in Umag and the Next Gen ATP Finals. In 2022, Alcaraz won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open, becoming the youngest world number one at age 19. In the same year, he also became the youngest player to defeat both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the same event. In 2023, Alcaraz won his first Wimbledon title, beating Djokovic in a five-set final. In 2024, Alcaraz secured his first Roland Garros title and second Wimbledon title, along with a silver medal at the Paris Olympics. In 2025, he won both his second Roland Garros and US Open titles, ending the season as world number one and a six-time Grand Slam champion by age 22.
Currently world number one, Alcaraz entered the 2026 Australian Open one slam away from the Career Slam. It was also his first tournament since he split with his longtime coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero. He made it through the first six rounds of the tournament, all the way to the semifinals, without dropping a set. On his way to the semifinals, Alcaraz defeated multiple seeded opponents, including 32nd seed Corentin Moutet, 19th seed Tommy Paul, and sixth seed Alex de Minaur. Soon, Alcaraz reached the semifinals, matched up against the third seed, Alexander Zverev of Germany. Before this match, Alcaraz and Zverev had played 12 times, with each winning six times. The weather was 80 degrees for the semifinal match, lower than the quarterfinals, which hit a high of 113 degrees.
As the match unfolded, Alcaraz won the first two sets 6-4, 7-6. To everyone watching, it looked as if Alcaraz would take the win in three, but at 5-4 in the third set, Alcaraz began to cramp in his legs. He took a medical timeout, which sparked controversy among both Zverev and the rest of the tennis world, as the rules typically don’t allow for timeouts due to cramping. Zverev’s frustration was clear as he yelled at the supervisor for bending the rules to help a top player.
The set continued, with Alcaraz struggling to move well. Zverev won the third set, and the crowd was unsure whether or not Alcaraz would retire from the match. Alcaraz spoke to his coaching team and decided to continue. Zverev won the fourth set in a tiebreak, with Alcaraz continuing to struggle with reduced movement and slower serving. Finally, in the fifth set, Alcaraz was able to recover and break Zverev’s serve at 5-4, going on to win the match 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5 in 5 hours and 27 minutes. After the match, Alcaraz stated during his on-court interview, “You’ve got to still believe in yourself all the time. I was struggling in the middle of the third set. Physically, it was one of the most demanding matches I’ve ever played in my short career.” Regardless, Alcaraz was now on his way to his first Australian Open final to take on 24-time Grand Slam champion, 38-year-old Serbian, Novak Djokovic.
Both Alcaraz and Djokovic entered the final with something on the line. For Alcaraz, it was the chance for a Career Slam. For Djokovic, he would be playing for his 25th Grand Slam, which, if achieved, would be the most in history. Going into this match, regarding the possibility of winning a 25th Grand Slam, Djokovic told reporters, “I always believe I can.” As the match kicked off in Rod Laver Arena, Alcaraz showed no signs of the cramping he had struggled with only 48 hours before. Djokovic, who had a 10-0 winning record in the Australian Open final, started the first set strong, beating Alcaraz 6-2 in 33 minutes.
As the match continued, Alcaraz began to pick up the pace, serving harder and outrunning Djokovic. Alcaraz won the second and third sets 6-2, 6-3. In the fourth, Djokovic began to fight back, but Alcaraz answered with confidence, taking the set 7-5, to win his first Australian Open. “It’s a dream come true for me,” Alcaraz said in his post-match interview. “Every year that I came here to Australia, I was thinking about getting the trophy. It couldn’t happen. Couldn’t go further than quarterfinals.”
This Australian Open victory brought Alcaraz’s completed Career Slam, joining Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Don Budge, and Fred Perry in this achievement. Alcaraz is now the youngest man to achieve the Career Slam and to reach seven slams before age 23. After completing the Career Slam, Alcaraz acknowledged this milestone, signing the lens of the TV camera, stating, “Job finished. 4/4 complete.”
