Spaniard is youngest man in Open Era to triumph at all four majors

Carlos Alcaraz forged a Melbourne milestone to secure tennis history on Sunday night at the Australian Open.

The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings overcame a shaky start to defeat Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 and claim his maiden title at the hard-court major in Melbourne. By inflicting a first defeat on Djokovic in 11 Australian Open finals, the 22-year-old Alcaraz became the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam — lifting the trophy at all four majors — in the Open Era.

“I think nobody knows how hard I have been working to get this trophy. I chased this moment so much,” said Alcaraz, who was contesting his first major since ending his partnership with his coach of seven years, Juan Carlos Ferrero, in December. “Preseason was a little bit of a rollercoaster emotionally… [My team] was just pushing me to do the right things every day, so I have to say I’m really grateful for everyone I have in my corner right now.”

After an uncharacteristically flat opening set in which Djokovic came out firing, Alcaraz locked in from the baseline to take control of his first Australian Open final. The Spaniard broke his rival’s serve twice en route to the second set and appeared back to his free-flowing best in a third set featuring several stunning all-court exchanges.

Djokovic dug deep in typical fashion in the fourth, fending off six break points to hold in the second game. But the 38-year-old was unable to counter and maintain his perfect championship-match record on Rod Laver Arena. Alcaraz broke decisively in the 12th game of the fourth set to seal a three-hour, two-minute win and ensure Djokovic’s wait for an all-time record 25th Grand Slam title goes on.

“Congratulations Carlos. An amazing tournament, an amazing couple of weeks. To your coach, to your family, to your team. What you have been doing, I think the best words to describe it are historic, legendary,” said Djokovic, before light-heartedly adding: “So congratulations and I wish you the best of luck for the rest of the career. You are so young, you have a lot of time like myself. So I’m sure we will be seeing each other many more times in the next 10 years.”

Alcaraz added: “I want to talk about Novak. He deserves an ovation for sure. You talk about me doing amazing things, but what you are doing is really inspiring, not just for tennis players but athletes around the world. Just putting in the right work every day with your team at every tournament you go to, and playing such great tennis… For me it is an honour to share the locker room and the court [with you], and watching you play. Thank you very much for what you are doing.”

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Alcaraz is now a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, moving him level with his fellow ATP No. 1 Club member John McEnroe and Mats Wilander on the all-time list. With the Spaniard's Melbourne victory, Alcaraz and great rival Jannik Sinner have now won the past nine Grand Slam titles between them, dating back to Djokovic’s triumph at the 2023 US Open.

Before Sunday, the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam in the Open Era was Rafael Nadal, who was in the stands at Rod Laver Arena to watch his two former on-court rivals do battle.

“For me it’s a little bit weird seeing Rafa in the stands. I think it’s the first time [he has watched me play] professionally, if I’m not wrong,” said Alcaraz. “I know you watched me when I was 14 or 15 years old, so it’s been a long time. It’s such an honour playing in front of you. We had great battles on the court… Now seeing you watch my match, it’s just a privilege.”

Most Grand Slam Men's Singles Titles (Open Era)

Player  Grand Slam Titles 
Novak Djokovic  24 
Rafael Nadal  22 
Roger Federer  20 
Pete Sampras  14 
Bjorn Borg  11 
Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl  8 
Carlos Alcaraz, John McEnroe, Mats Wilander  7 

Alcaraz and Djokovic were meeting for the second consecutive year at the Australian Open after Djokovic downed the Spaniard in four sets in the 2025 quarter-finals. With Sunday’s victory, Alcaraz levelled the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 5-5, and he has now won all three major title matches he has played against Djokovic.

Appearing fresh despite his marathon five-set semi-final victory against 2024 and 2025 champion Jannik Sinner on Friday night, Djokovic pummelled the ball aggressively from the first game inside Rod Laver Arena. The 38-year-old, who was bidding to lift an all-time record 25th Grand Slam trophy and also become the oldest men’s singles titlist at a major in the Open Era, barely put a foot wrong in a statement opening-set display.

Just as he had against Sinner, Djokovic came out determined to dictate play with his forehand, and the Serbian carved out the opening three break points of the set in the fourth game. Although Alcaraz held his nerve to fend off the first two, Djokovic prevailed in an extended baseline rally on the third to gain an early advantage.

Alcaraz himself contested the longest semi-final in tournament history on Friday against Alexander Zverev, and he did not show his typical high energy in the opening set. Djokovic expertly capitalised on his momentum by breaking his opponent’s serve again in the eighth game to clinch a set in which he dropped just two points behind serve, according to Infosys Stats.

Needing to find a way to stop Djokovic’s opening charge, Alcaraz benefitted from a slice of fortune en route to his first break of the match early in the second set. At 1-1, 15/15 on Djokovic’s serve, the Spaniard fired a forehand that clipped the net cord, looped up and somehow landed spinning into the net on Djokovic’s side of the court. The top seed went onto break his rival for a second time in the seventh game and he soon served out to level the match before letting out a roar.

Alcaraz’s resurgence continued into the third set. Showing no signs of fatigue from his semi-final exertions against Zverev, the Spaniard relentlessly hared around the court to repel much of what Djokovic threw at him. The crowd was on its feet after Alcaraz won an electric first point of the fourth game, during which he barely believably returned a Djokovic around-the-net shot, and the top seed went on to win five in six games to move within a set of victory.

As expected from a man who has won a record 104 main-draw matches at the Australian Open, Djokovic did not depart Rod Laver Arena without a fight. He fended off six break points to hold serve in a marathon second game of the fourth set to the delight of his raucous fans, but he was unable to deny Alcaraz at 5-6. Djokovic fired a forehand long on Alcaraz's first match point to send the Spaniard tumbling to the ground with joy.