Carlos Alcaraz To Challenge For Extremely Rare Feat At 2025 Australian Open
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Carlos Alcaraz has already achieved an incredible amount for a 21-year-old, but he could complete something historic after the 2025 Australian Open.
Alcaraz, who has a new haircut for the Australian Open that divided tennis fans, won his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2022 US Open. His run to the title included one of the greatest matches in the tournament's history in the quarterfinal against Jannik Sinner.
The Spaniard was just 19 years old when he triumphed at Flushing Meadows. It turned him into a worldwide star overnight, and the style Alcaraz plays with while succeeding on the most significant stages has made him particularly popular.
Alcaraz lost a practice set to Novak Djokovic ahead of this year's Australian Open. The young star did not play any warmup tournaments before the Australian Open, meaning rustiness may have contributed to the lost set.
However, Alcaraz managed an incredible victory against Djokovic to win his first Wimbledon title in 2023 after one of the best contests in the historic event's lengthy history. Djokovic, a seven-time champion at SW19, was a considerable favorite before the final.
The match seemed to be going as expected when the Serbian easily took the opening set, but Alcaraz stormed back to win an extraordinarily high-quality battle 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 after four hours and 42 minutes.
Alcaraz waited close to a year for his third major title at the French Open. Once again, it took five sets to get over the line. Alexander Zverev had a two sets to one lead in the final before the physically stronger Alcaraz recovered to claim the title.
That was followed by a much more comfortable triumph in the final against Djokovic in last year's Wimbledon final. Alcaraz's Grand Slam tally stands at four, an outstanding number for someone still so young.
The only major title missing from Alcaraz's haul is the Australian Open. Therefore, the Spaniard will likely be even more motivated than usual to succeed at the tournament that takes place in Melbourne.
Doubles legend Todd Woodbridge thinks this year is Alcaraz's best chance yet of winning the Australian Open. The two-time Wimbledon champion was injured in 2023, and his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, could not travel with him in 2024.
Alcaraz would achieve something truly historic if he secured the 2025 Australian Open men's singles title. He could become the youngest man in tennis history to manage the Calendar Grand Slam by triumphing at the season's opening major tournament.
Only eight men in tennis history have completed the Calendar Grand Slam. The youngest of these was Don Budge, who completed his collection of the four major tournaments at the 1938 French Open at the age of 22 and 11 months.
Rod Laver (24 years and 1 month), Rafael Nadal (24 years and 3 months), Fred Perry (26 years and 0 months), Roy Emerson (27 years and 8 months), Roger Federer (27 years and 9 months), Novak Djokovic (29 years and 0 months), and Andre Agassi (29 years and one month) are the others to achieve it.
Alcaraz is currently 21 years and 8 months old. That gives him an opportunity in Melbourne to become the youngest player on that list. Should he not succeed this year, he could still become the youngest man to achieve the feat even if he wins the tournament in 2026.
