/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_9103_429753.jpeg)
Carlos Alcaraz wins historic Australian Open to seal youngest male career grand slam
It was fitting that Rafael Nadal sat in the front row of Rod Laver Arena, as he had previously been the youngest man in the Open era – at 24 years and 102 days – to win all four majors. Alcaraz is 22 and 272 days old, so this was a sizeable margin of improvement.
Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to complete the career grand slam after a pulsating match against Novak Djokovic, which rounded off a magnificent finish to this slow-starting Australian Open.
Despite having played for five-and-a-half hours against Alexander Zverev in Friday’s semi-final, Alcaraz performed repeated miracles of impossible court coverage to overcome an in-form Djokovic in four sets: 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5. He plans to celebrate with a kangaroo tattoo.
“I’ve got to choose a good spot, but it’s going to be for sure close to the French Open or Wimbledon,” said Alcaraz, who already has etchings of the Statue of Liberty on his left arm, the Eiffel Tower on his left ankle and a strawberry on his right ankle. Each one is accompanied by the date on which he won the relevant tournament.
It was fitting that Rafael Nadal sat in the front row of Rod Laver Arena, as he had previously been the youngest man in the Open era – at 24 years and 102 days – to win all four majors. Alcaraz is 22 and 272 days old, so this was a sizeable margin of improvement.
The match – which occupied three hours and two minutes – was a little slow to catch light as the two players split a pair of one-sided sets. But they locked horns and eyes in a riveting struggle during sets three and four, giving the fans in Melbourne a show to remember.
After Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s pre-match rendition of Murder on the Dancefloor, these players delivered wonder on the hardcourt. Djokovic played with dead-eyed precision, landing four-fifths of his first serves with the accuracy of Luke Littler. Alcaraz, meanwhile, was skating around the court like an ice-hockey player.
After seeing Alcaraz materialise out of nowhere to collect countless balls that no other player would have reached, Djokovic might find himself wondering where the Spaniard might pop up next. At the cinema? In his walk-in closet?
“Everything is possible in his case, no question about it,” said Djokovic after the match. But he also made it clear that he had suffered a physical dip in the second and third sets. After needing more than four hours to subdue Jannik Sinner on Friday, he could have done with more than a single day off to recuperate.
“The first set was one of the best sets I’ve played the last couple years,” explained Djokovic, who had not previously lost a night match on Rod Laver Arena since 2018. “But some things happened, and my energy, my level went completely down from north to south in two games … I managed to recuperate and feel re-energised mid-fourth [set], but it wasn’t meant to be.”
To this observer, Djokovic’s self-analysis seemed a little harsh. He might have thrown in a loose second set, committing 11 unforced errors and barely striking a winner. But he seemed very engaged in the third, despite clearly not feeling his best. During the break before the fourth set, he called the doctor to the court and swallowed a couple of pills.
Twice in that third set, Djokovic had responded to being forced wide by driving the ball around the net-post. These were shots from another world. But they didn’t even win him the rally.
After running into peak Djokovic here last year – and in the Olympic final of 2024 – Alcaraz was prepared for the very highest standard of opposition. He anticipated these almost-winners and slid into the near-splits position that Djokovic himself pioneered before bunting them back into the open court. Here was Alcarazmatazz in its purest form.
Feeling more himself in the fourth set, Djokovic fended off six break points in his opening service game, then turned to the fans and gave a huge clenched-fist salute. The stadium came alive in excitement as both players looked to feed off the crowd’s energy.
Alcaraz plays at his best when he is enjoying himself, and he joined in the pantomime vibe with his own exaggerated celebrations after each service hold. Even so, there were times in the fourth set where his grin looked a little forced.
“When”, Alcaraz must have thought, “will this old fella let up?” But just before the final game, he turned to John McEnroe in the courtside commentary box and shared a little joke. Perhaps this helped to relax him for one last push,
As Djokovic served for the last time, at 5-6 in the fourth set, Alcaraz worked him around the court in one more punishing baseline rally that lasted 25 shots. Djokovic’s chest was heaving as he stepped back up to the line and he couldn’t quite recover his poise. Finally, a forehand flew long, and Alcaraz fell to the floor in the customary celebration.
With another three months to go before his 23rd birthday, Alcaraz has seven majors in the bag already – another record. For purposes of comparison, Djokovic didn’t reach that mark until he was 27.
When asked afterwards whether he had processed the scale of his achievement, Alcaraz shook his head. “We have tournaments week after week after week, and sometimes you don’t realise what you’ve been doing lately.”
But he did sound satisfied to have ended the debate about his coaching situation. Alcaraz’s long-time mentor Juan Carlos Ferrero left the camp at the end of last year after a contractual disagreement, and many observers had queried whether this would affect his form.
“It was a different preseason for me,” Alcaraz said at his post-match press conference. “A lot of people were talking about everything and having doubts about my level in this tournament … I just happy to prove all the people were wrong.”
Meanwhile, Tennis Australia announced record attendance figures for the fortnight, with an astonishing 1.37m people coming through the gates. If this is to be the last Australian Open for tournament director Craig Tiley, the visionary boss who is expected to announce a move to the United States Tennis Association next week, he has certainly gone out with a bang.
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
