MELBOURNE, Australia — Carlos Alcaraz has by no means gained the Australian Open, nor has he performed within the ultimate of the match. In actual fact, the world No. 1 has but to make a semifinal look on the 12 months’s first Grand Slam.
It appears ludicrous. Unfathomable, even. Absolutely, a fast Wikipedia examine will straighten this one out.
In any case, few tennis gamers in historical past have loved a 40-month run of dominance fairly like Alcaraz. Since August 2022, the magnetic Spaniard has gained Wimbledon twice, the French Open twice, the US Open twice and prevailed in eight Masters 1000 occasions. At 19, he turned the ATP’s youngest-ever world No. 1, and he has amassed a staggering $50 million in prize cash — a determine already ok for fifth place on tennis’ all-time highest earners’ listing.
However regardless of all of Alcaraz’s accolades, the Australian Open title stays a stark omission from his résumé. Not solely has he didn’t raise the Norman Brookes Problem Cup, however he additionally has by no means actually come near conquering the sector Down Beneath — a distinction to how he has fared at tennis’ three different majors. At Wimbledon, he has gained 89% of matches performed. On the French Open? Once more, 89%. How concerning the US Open? You guessed it: 89%. Heading into this 12 months’s Australian Open, Alcaraz’s win price was “simply” 73%.
“I am hungry for the title,” Alcaraz stated on the eve of the match. “That is my essential aim for this 12 months. The primary match, the primary aim. I simply actually wish to carry out higher than I did earlier years.”
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Up to now in his profession, Alcaraz’s most memorable match at Melbourne Park stays his third-round tie in 2022 towards eventual semifinalist Matteo Berrettini. The then-18-year-old Alcaraz turned in a Herculean efficiency beneath blazing sunshine on Rod Laver Enviornment, in a match that went to a fifth-set decider and lasted greater than 4 hours. And although Alcaraz would fall agonizingly quick, it was a glimpse into the outrageous expertise that will quickly turn into the benchmark of the tour.
However since then, each Alcaraz journey again to Australia has both led to extreme disappointment or been canceled earlier than it started.
In 2023, because the freshly minted world No. 1, a devastated Alcaraz was pressured to withdraw from the match after struggling a hamstring harm within the ultimate weeks of his coaching camp. He returned in 2024 to a lot fanfare, however was upset by an ultra-efficient Alexander Zverev in a one-sided quarterfinal that didn’t showcase him at his greatest.
OH MY ALCARAZ 😱
That is UNREAL 🔥@carlosalcaraz • @wwos • @espn • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #AO26 pic.twitter.com/fSZZ2aITyo
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2026
Final 12 months’s marketing campaign was additionally derailed within the quarterfinals, shedding to 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in 4 units.
“It is difficult to not have gone additional than quarterfinals right here in Australia as a result of I really feel like I am enjoying good tennis right here. The final two years I have been enjoying actually good tennis,” Alcaraz stated earlier within the week. “Zverev and Djokovic … it is uncommon gamers you play towards in quarterfinal if you’re [ranked] one or two on the planet.”
Australian Open Males’s Odds
That loss to Djokovic spurred Alcaraz to essentially the most profitable season of his profession. He claimed eight titles, together with the US Open and French Open crowns, reached 9 consecutive match finals between April and September and gained a career-best 71 of 80 matches performed.
Alcaraz has carried that kind into this fortnight’s occasion at Melbourne Park, having breezed via to the fourth spherical with out dropping a set. His spherical of 32 tie towards France’s Corentin Moutet was a two-hour showcase of his ridiculous talent, craft and athleticism, a match that left his seeded opponent laughing to himself — and void of solutions.
Now, a match towards American Tommy Paul awaits, with the winner to face both Tenth-seed Alexander Bublik or Australia’s top-ranked Alex de Minaur within the quarterfinals.
Capping this fortnight with the Australian Open title would make Alcaraz the ninth males’s participant to gather all 4 majors in a profession. He would even be the youngest of the group to attain the feat, shattering compatriot Rafael Nadal’s present file by nearly two full years.
“Finishing the profession Grand Slam is one thing wonderful to do. To be the youngest [to have] accomplished it earlier than is even higher,” Alcaraz stated. “I am simply pleased with the way in which I see myself enhancing each match, each follow. I do know that I’ll maintain going ahead.
“I am feeling this 12 months might be a type of years that I can, or I’ll have an opportunity.”
