Carlos Alcaraz sends warning as he looks to end Jannik Sinner’s Australian Open dominance
Carlos Alcaraz has set his sights on the 2026 Australian Open as it will set him up for a Career Grand Slam or Calendar Grand Slam, but he will no doubt need to get past one Jannik Sinner if he is to achieve his goal.
The hard-court major at Melbourne Park is the only Grand Slam missing from Alcaraz’s impressive CV as he has won two French Open crowns, two Wimbledon titles and two US Open trophies.
But he is yet to solve the puzzle Down Under as he is yet to make it past the quarter-final of the season-opening Slam, losing in the last eight against Novak Djokovic at the start of 2025 and against Alexander Zverev in 2024.
On top of that, Sinner has dominated the Australian Open the past two years as he won his maiden major at the event in 2024, beating Daniil Medvedev in the final, and made it back-to-back titles this year with a crushing defeat of Zverev in the final.
Alcaraz, though, is pretty clear about his targets.
If the 22-year-old does, indeed, go on to win the Australian Open next year, then he will become the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam, replacing Rafael Nadal at the No 1 as the former world No 1 was 24 when he notched up the feat.
Roger Federer (27), Djokovic (29), Andre Agassi (29) and Rod Laver (31) are the only men to have completed the Career Grand Slam.
Winning a Calendar Grand Slam remains a rare achievement with Laver the only player to secure that remarkable milestone in the Open Era as he pulled it off in 1969.
“[The main] thing for me is Grand Slams, try to win as many Grand Slams as I can. That’s my main goal,” he is quoted as saying by the official Australian Open website.
“I think [the AO is] going to be great. It’s my first goal, to be honest. When I just go to the pre-seasons to what I want to improve, what I want to achieve, Australian Open is there. It’s the first or second tournament of the year, and it is always the main goal for me to complete a Career Grand Slam, Calendar Grand Slam.
“I just wanted to complete it. Obviously, I’m going to try to do it next year, but if it is not next year, hopefully in two and three and four.”
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But there is no question that Sinner will be his main challenger once again next year with their rivalry going from strength to strength in 2025.
The pair met in three consecutive Grand Slam finals with Alcaraz winning at Roland Garros, Sinner then hit back at Wimbledon before the Spaniard won the US Open. Sinner, though, did have the last laugh as he won the ATP Finals.
“Just really grateful for that [rivalry] because it gives me the opportunity to give my 100 per cent every practice, every day,” the world No 1 said.
“The level that I have to maintain and I have to raise if I want to beat Jannik is really high.”
