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After Career Slam, will Alcaraz chase a clean sweep of majors this year?
The 22-year-old beat Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final to become the youngest man to win all four majors, surpassing the legendary Rafael Nadal
- PUBLISHED: Sun 1 Feb 2026, 8:03 PM
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- AFP
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Carlos Alcaraz has an easy charm and broad Tom Cruise-like smile, but underneath the cool exterior is a highly driven individual laser-focused on setting records.
The 22-year-old did just that on Sunday, beating Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final to become the youngest man to win all four majors, surpassing the legendary Rafael Nadal.
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Fellow Spaniard Nadal, who was at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne to witness it, was 24 when he completed the career Grand Slam.
Alcaraz has immense respect for Nadal and Djokovic, but the world number one's hero growing up was Roger Federer.
"Federer, the class he had, the way he got people to see tennis, that was beautiful," Alcaraz, who has now won seven majors, said in 2023.
"Watching Federer is like looking at a work of art. It's elegance, he did everything magnificently. I became enchanted by him."
Alcaraz shares plenty of the same attributes -- daring, range, tactical flexibility, and style.
The modest, muscular star from the small town of El Palmar in Spain's south-east hit the giant-killing jackpot at Madrid in 2022 when he became the only man to defeat both Nadal and Djokovic at the same clay-court event.
For good measure, he achieved it on back-to-back days on his way to the title.
When he won his maiden Slam, at the US Open the same year, he became the youngest champion of a men's major since Nadal at the 2005 French Open.
He was also the youngest man to ascend to the world number one ranking.
His Roland Garros coronation in 2024 ensured he was the youngest to win Grand Slam titles on clay, grass and hard courts.
Ominously, Alcaraz is still getting better and he has developed nerves of steel, refusing to give up when the odds are stacked against him.
He demonstrated that never-say-die attitude in his semifinal in Melbourne against Alexander Zverev, battling through cramp and a 3-5 deficit in the fifth set to pull off a huge win.
"I just hate giving up. I just don't want to feel that way," he said.
"When I was younger there were a lot of matches that I just didn't want to fight anymore or I just gave up.
"Then I just got mature, and I just hate that feeling (losing).
"You have to intuit where the other player is going to send the ball, you have to move ahead of time, and try to do something that will make him uncomfortable."
Now Sunday's win in the final against Djokovic has not diminished his desire and while plenty remains on his to-do list, he will not pile pressure on himself to chase a clean sweep of the majors this year.
"It's going to be a big challenge," Alcaraz told reporters when asked about gunning for all four Grand Slam titles in the same year.
"Those are big words, to be honest. I just want it to be one at a time. Right now, the next one is the French Open and I have great memories of that tournament. I feel really special every time that I go there.
"I don't want to put myself in a really pressure position to have to do it, but it's going to be great. Right now I'll try to be ready, to work hard, to just recover and practice well to play a good tournament in the next Grand Slam."
Alcaraz said he had plenty of motivation for the rest of a year that has begun superbly after an emotional roller-coaster in pre-season, during which he split with long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.
"There are some tournaments that I really want to win at least once. A few Masters 1000s. I just really want to complete all the Masters 1000," Alcaraz said.
"Obviously the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup are goals as well. I really want to achieve that for Spain. I've set up some other goals for the season and I'll try to be ready for, or to try to get those goals."
Alcaraz's immediate focus will be on getting a tattoo to mark his Melbourne Park triumph.
He has commemorated previous major wins with body art - a strawberry for Wimbledon, the Eiffel Tower for the French Open, the date of his first US Open title and after his second in New York, the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.
"I've said it's going to be a kangaroo, for sure," the seven-times Grand Slam champion added.
"It's going to be in the leg, for sure ... I don't know the right, the left one. So I got to choose a good spot, but it's going to be for sure close to the French Open or Wimbledon."
