Jannik Sinner in his way as Carlos Alcaraz targets career Grand Slam in Australia
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Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will once again be the two biggest favourites to win this season's Australian Open.
PHOTO: EPA
MELBOURNE – Carlos Alcaraz is targeting a career Grand Slam at the Australian Open, but winning the only Major to elude him will be no easy feat with great rival Jannik Sinner standing in his way.
The Spaniard has six Slam titles at just 22 years old, but success on the Melbourne Park hard courts is a glaring hole in his resume.
He has not made it past the quarter-finals in four trips to Australia, losing at that stage in 2025 to Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev the year before.
“It’s my first goal to be honest,” Alcaraz said of Australia after winning the US Open last season
“When I just go to the pre-seasons to what I want to improve, what I want to achieve, Australian Open is there. I think this is my main goal for this year. It’s the first tournament, the main goal.
“I’m just hungry for the title, hungry to have a really good result here. I’m just getting ready as much as I can. I’m really excited about the tournament.”
Should he snap his Australia drought at the tournament starting on Jan 18, he would become the youngest man to bank a career Grand Slam, surpassing retired compatriot Rafael Nadal.
Nadal secured all four Slams by the age of 24.
But Alcaraz faces a significant roadblock in Italy’s Sinner, the two-time defending champion chasing his own slice of history – hoping to make it three in a row to join Djokovic as the only men in the Open era to do so.
“We worked a lot physically,” Sinner said of his pre-season. “The physical part now is so, so important because the matches can get very long and also very intense.
“You have to be at the top physical level as long as you can.”
Sinner came from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in the 2024 Australian Open final in straight sets a year ago
While the Italian is the defending champion, Alcaraz leads 10-6 in their head-to-head record and bumped Sinner from the season-ending world No. 1 spot.
They met in a light-hearted exhibition match in South Korea last weekend, the pair’s only warm-up for Melbourne, with Alcaraz coming out on top.
Such is the dominance of “Sincaraz”, as they are being called, they have shared the last eight Grand Slam titles, picking up four each since Djokovic won his 24th Major
“It’s a great rivalry,” said retired Swiss great Roger Federer, who lifted the last of his six Australian Open trophies in 2018.
“Their progression in the last few years is wonderful. I’ve practised with both of them a little bit and they’re incredible ball strikers. There’s more to come, I hope they stay injury-free.”
Meanwhile, Djokovic is back again at his most successful hunting ground, but there are questions over his fitness and form with the 38-year-old pulling out of this week’s Adelaide International.
Still chasing a record 25th Slam crown, Djokovic could be at his last Australian Open and will be desperate to win again.
He made the semis at all four Slams in 2025 but went no further, losing to Sinner in Paris and at Wimbledon, as well as Alcaraz in New York, admitting “I can do only as much as I can do”.
“They’re just too good, playing on a really high level,” he said after his loss at Flushing Meadows. “Best-of-five makes it very, very difficult for me to play them. Particularly if it’s like the end stages of a Grand Slam.”
The veteran could meet Sinner in the semi-finals in Melbourne if all goes to plan.
World No. 3 Zverev, along with Lorenzo Musetti, Alex de Minaur and Felix Auger-Aliassime, ranked five, six and seven respectively, will be looking to crash the party and win a first Major.
Three-time losing finalist Medvedev is a dark horse after winning the lead-up Brisbane International, while American Learner Tien spearheads the new guard fresh from lifting the ATP Next Gen title.
Jakub Mensik and Joao Fonseca are also among the young talents looking to make a mark, while Alexander Bublik will fancy going deep after winning the Hong Kong Open
