Carlos Alcaraz knows what matters the most to him in 2026 and isn\u2019t shy about telling the world: He wants to win the Australian Open to complete a career Grand Slam.<\/p>\n
That would make him the ninth man in tennis history with at least one singles championship from each of the sport\u2019s four most prestigious tournaments \u2014 and, at 22 years and just under 9 months old at the event\u2019s conclusion, the youngest.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be my first tournament of the season, and it\u2019s really the main goal for me,\u201d Alcaraz told The Associated Press. \u201dI\u2019m going to do the preseason just focused for the Australian Open \u2014 to be in really good shape for the Australian Open, physically, mentally, tennis-wise. Everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
When play begins on the hard courts of Melbourne Park on Sunday (Saturday night EST), Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, who is 24, both will be chasing the one major trophy missing from their collections.<\/p>\n
He owns a total of six so far: two apiece from the red clay of the French Open, the grass of Wimbledon and the hard courts of the U.S. Open. So does she: four from the French Open and one each from Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlayers who have been able to complete the four of them … adapt in different situations, different surfaces, different atmospheres,\u201d Alcaraz said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what a real champion does: adapting themselves wherever they play. Different cities, stadiums, in front of different crowds. That makes a real champion. That\u2019s why I\u2019m really looking forward to doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The youngest man with a career Slam was Don Budge, who was two days from turning 23 when he won the 1938 French Open as part of a calendar-year Slam. Maureen Connolly has the overall mark: She was 18 when she completed her full set at the 1953 French Open, one of 10 women to win all four majors.<\/p>\n
Swiatek has come closer than Alcaraz in Australia, getting to the semifinals twice. Alcaraz has been as far as the quarterfinals, including losing to 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic in 2025.<\/p>\n
Currently No. 2 behind Aryna Sabalenka \u2014 who is a two-time Australian Open winner and was last year\u2019s runner-up to Madison Keys \u2014 Swiatek was asked which would mean more to her: winning in Melbourne or returning to the top of the rankings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t need to choose which one is more important, which one is a priority. I\u2019m still young. I have plenty of time to do different things and achieve different goals in my career,\u201d came the reply. \u201cI really don\u2019t need to put that pressure on myself to do something in the next two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alcaraz, who recently split from longtime coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, is ranked No. 1 but won\u2019t be the favorite over the coming 15 days. That\u2019s his rival, No. 2 Jannik Sinner, who won the past two Australian Opens and appeared in the last five Slam finals overall.<\/p>\n
He won the U.S. Open in 2024 and Wimbledon in 2025, meaning the 24-year-old Sinner enters 2026 on the verge of a career Slam, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are players who are pretty complete, I\u2019d say,\u201d Sinner said about himself and Alcaraz. \u201cWe can change the way we play.\u201d<\/p>\n
No matter when a career Grand Slam arrives \u2014 at age 21 for Serena Williams, for example, or 29 for Djokovic \u2014 it is significant and truly sets tennis players apart.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re obviously already so successful, they\u2019re kind of trying to check off the boxes of even more big accomplishments. That\u2019s a huge milestone,\u201d said Taylor Fritz, the 2024 runner-up to Sinner in New York. \u201cAt such a young age for all of them, it\u2019s even more impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sinner\u2019s missing piece? Roland-Garros, where he lost last year\u2019s final to Alcaraz after holding a trio of championship points.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a motivation,\u201d Sinner told the AP. \u201cWe will push a lot to be ready to perform my best at every tournament and be ready for the most important matches. That\u2019s what I want.\u201d<\/p>\n
As serious as Alcaraz is about getting the job done in Melbourne, he also can joke about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would trade Australia for Roland-Garros with Jannik,\u201d Alcaraz said with a hearty laugh. \u201cI would trade that, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Howard Fendrich has been the AP\u2019s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https:\/\/apnews.com\/author\/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/p>\n
Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carlos Alcaraz knows what matters the most to him in 2026 and isn\u2019t shy about telling the world:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-412316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}