Tennis immortality at 22 - Alcaraz's historic win

With each captivating swish of his racquet, Carlos Alcaraz seemingly edges closer to more history.

The Spanish world number one has become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam - lifting all four of the sport's major trophies - with his maiden Australian Open triumph.

Sunday's victory over Novak Djokovic ensured the 22-year-old Alcaraz clinched the seventh major title of his career, just six years after making his senior debut.

Alcaraz has won five of the past eight slams and has astonishingly prevailed in all but one of his eight major finals.

He follows all-time greats Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andre Agassi and Rod Laver as only the sixth man to achieve the career Grand Slam in the Open era.

The man he replaces as the youngest to achieve that feat is, fittingly, his sporting idol and 22-time major winner Rafael Nadal, who did so aged 24 in 2010 and watched his compatriot's historic win over old foe Djokovic from the stands in Melbourne.

In tennis history, Alcaraz surpassed Don Budge, who had won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open by the age of 22 years and 355 days in 1938.

"Every year that I came to Australia I was thinking about winning but it didn't happen. This year, I was hungry for more," Alcaraz said.

"It is a dream come true."

In winning his seventh Grand Slam, Alcaraz now has the most major singles titles before the age of 23 than any other man during the Open era.

Only Bjorn Borg had won six slams at a younger age than Alcaraz, but Borg turned 23 on his way to lifting his seventh at Roland Garros in 1979.

By comparison, men's record 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic had won just one major before turning 23.

Alcaraz has already triumphed twice at each of the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, but before this year his best Australian Open result was two quarter-final appearances in 2024 and 2025.

He won his first US Open at the second attempt, achieved a first Wimbledon triumph in his third appearance, claimed a maiden French Open on his fourth visit, and completed his sweep of successes at his fifth Australian Open.

Across the seven major finals he has won, Alcaraz has never faced a player seeded lower than fifth - overcoming Djokovic on three occasions and Jannik Sinner twice, along with victories over Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud.

Remarkably, since his maiden major triumph in September 2022, Alcaraz has triumphed in more than half of the slams.

After winning September's US Open, Alcaraz stated his desire to begin the year with this historic achievement.

One key priority for Alcaraz was his serve.

Once considered the weakest aspect of his game, it now bears a striking resemblance to Djokovic's rhythmic motion, from which the Serb produces devastating precision.

Alcaraz has turned his serve into another "important weapon", as witnessed during last year's US Open where he won 98 of his 101 service games.

It is a demoralising development for his opponents, who already had his dizzying combination of power, athleticism and inventive variety to contend with.

By adding his 25th tour-level singles title, Alcaraz is behind only Djokovic (101) for the most won by active players.

He has now captured 15 'big titles' - consisting of Grand Slams, ATP Finals, Masters 1000 tournaments and the Olympics - with his win rate of one big title for every 3.7 tournaments he has played behind only Djokovic (3.3) and Nadal (3.5).

The next piece of history for Alcaraz will be emulating Laver as only the second man in the Open era to achieve a calendar slam - winning all four majors in the same year.

Asked about the possibility, Alcaraz said: "It is going to be a big challenge.

"I just want one at a time. The next is Roland Garros and I feel really special every time that I go there.

"I don't want to put pressure on myself to have to do it."

Sinner, as has been the case throughout each of the past two seasons, would appear to be his biggest barrier.

The Italian will have his chance to complete a career Grand Slam of his own at the French Open, having lost last year's epic to Alcaraz.

Alcaraz or Sinner have been crowned champion at each of the past nine Grand Slam tournaments since Djokovic won the 2023 US Open.

Despite Alcaraz splitting with long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero in December after seven years together, and Sinner's loss to Djokovic in a thrilling five-set semi-final in Melbourne, their reign of dominance does not look set to end any time soon.

Praising Alcaraz after the final, Djokovic said: "The results are a testament to his already stellar career. He deserves every bit of the praise that he gets.

"He is already a legendary tennis player that made already a huge mark in the history books of tennis.

"Everything is possible in his case, no question about it."