{"id":419771,"date":"2026-01-19T18:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/419771\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T18:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:43:08","slug":"recharged-alcaraz-starts-career-slam-bid-with-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/419771\/","title":{"rendered":"Recharged Alcaraz starts career Slam bid with win"},"content":{"rendered":"

A holiday in Miami, time at home surrounded by loved ones and plenty of board games – that is how Carlos Alcaraz mentally recharged during the off-season before starting another bid to make history at the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Victory in Melbourne would complete the career Grand Slam for the Spaniard, who has already won each of the other three majors twice.<\/p>\n

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Should he do so, the 22-year-old would become the youngest player – and only the ninth overall – to achieve the milestone in the men’s singles, with six-time Australian Open champion Roger Federer among those backing him to do so.<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite taking a nine-week break from competitive tennis following a landmark 2025 season which saw him win eight titles, including the French Open and US Open, and finish as year-end number one, Alcaraz showed few signs of rust as he overcame Australia’s Adam Walton 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-2.<\/p>\n

“It was a really long season, a tough one – a lot of tough moments, a lot of good moments,” Alcaraz said.<\/p>\n

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“I had two weeks [on holiday]. One in Miami with a big group of friends – we had fun – and then a second week in Turks and Caicos to relax a little.<\/p>\n

“I stayed home, I recharged the batteries. Mentally, I am fresh to play in the first tournament of the year and I’m ready to play really good tennis in Melbourne.”<\/p>\n

Detailing his daily pre-season routine, he added: “I used to practise the whole morning – start at 09:00 and finish at 14:00 or even 15:00. The whole morning is about working out physically and on the court.<\/p>\n

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“After that, I took almost every afternoon off to do whatever I want – stay with family or friends, play board games, chilling at home.<\/p>\n

“It’s a better way to recharge the batteries, staying at home with the people you love.”<\/p>\n

The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam at which Alcaraz is yet to reach the final, with the quarter-finals in 2024 and 2025 his best showings, but he advanced to round two in comfortable fashion against Walton.<\/p>\n

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Playing in his first Grand Slam match since splitting from long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero,<\/a> Alcaraz had to wait until the eighth game of the opening set to convert a break point and also had his serve broken in the second, but immediately bounced back with a break of his own and proved too strong in the key moments, pulling away in the second set tie-break to win it 7-2.<\/p>\n

However, his 38 winners were almost matched by his 36 unforced errors and he only converted four of his 10 break points – statistics he will be eager to improve on in his second-round meeting with Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann.<\/p>\n

“It was difficult to find the good spot [against Walton],” added Alcaraz. “He was one step forward than me. He was always in a good position, long rallies and solid from the baseline. His flat ball was sometimes really difficult for me.<\/p>\n

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“It was a really solid match and when he was able to step in on the court and play aggressive, he did and that made it really difficult in the match.”<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the men’s draw on day one, third seed and 2025 runner-up Alexander Zverev came from a set behind to defeat Canada’s Gabriel Diallo in four sets.<\/p>\n

The German lost the first-set tie-break 7-1 but only conceded seven games across the next three sets to set up a second-round meeting with either Alexei Popyrin or Alexandre Muller.<\/p>\n

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Kazakhstan’s 10th seed Alexander Bublik beat Jenson Brooksby 6-4 6-4 6-4 while fellow seeds Francisco Cerundolo, Frances Tiafoe and Corentin Moutet also advanced in straight sets.<\/p>\n

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