By Shrivathsa Sridhar
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – There is little doubt Carlos Alcaraz is one of the brightest stars of his generation with Grand Slam success on all three surfaces but the Spaniard will arrive at the Australian Open looking to conquer the final frontier of his young career.
Should he lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at Melbourne Park later this month, the 21-year-old French Open and Wimbledon champion will become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam – the feat of winning all four major titles.
Victory would put the 2022 U.S. Open champion in the elite company of Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic, cementing his status as a modern great.
Alcaraz has not gone beyond the quarter-finals in his three previous visits to Melbourne, but that has not stopped the world number three from dreaming of glory in the Jan. 12-26 event.
“I have it in mind to get a tattoo of a kangaroo,” Alcaraz told Spanish outlet Marca recently, referring to the tradition of immortalising his major triumphs on his skin.
“The goal is to complete the Grand Slam in Melbourne.”
For all his bullishness before the first Grand Slam of the New Year, Alcaraz will be aware he was somewhat overshadowed by Jannik Sinner in 2024, with the Italian enjoying a near-perfect season that included the Australian Open and U.S. Open titles.
SOBERING EXPERIENCE
Defeat by Novak Djokovic in the Olympic final in Paris was another sobering experience for Alcaraz and some pundits began to question his consistency after a shock second round loss to the unheralded Botic van de Zandschulp at the U.S. Open.
“Every player wants to be in the final, to go as far as they can during tournaments. This year, I’ve played great tournaments and really bad tournaments,” said Alcaraz, who responded to his critics by winning the China Open, beating Sinner in the final.
“My goal at the end is to be there all the time, to at least reach the semi-finals and final to give myself the chance to win tournaments.
“I have to work. I’m still super young, so I have or I hope to have many years to get there. Let’s see in 2025, I hope to be a better player and (show) more consistency.”
Federer, who watched Alcaraz live for the first time during his triumphant Wimbledon defence shortly after his Roland Garros victory, believes the Spaniard has what it takes to capture the one major title that has eluded him so far.
“He will win an Australian Open, the question is when,” said Federer.
“He’s had the most incredible career already. It’s fantastic that he’s already got four Grand Slams without talking about all the other stuff that he’s achieved. Fantastic effort.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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