Can Carlos Alcaraz finally win the Australian Open?

Melbourne, Australia — carlos alcaraz He has never won the Australian Open, nor has he played a final of the tournament. In fact, the world No. 1 player is yet to make it to the semi-finals of the first Grand Slam of the year.

This sounds ridiculous. Immeasurable, even. Certainly, a quick Wikipedia check will make the matter clear.

After all, few tennis players in history have enjoyed 40 months of dominance like Alcaraz. Since August 2022, the magnetic Spaniard has won Wimbledon twice, the French Open twice, the US Open twice and has won eight Masters 1000 events. At the age of 19, he became the ATP’s youngest-ever World No. 1, and earned $50 million in prize money – a figure already good enough for fifth place on the list of tennis’ all-time highest earners.

But despite all of Alcaraz’s accolades, an Australian Open title is completely missing from her resume. Not only has he failed to win the Norman Brooks Challenge Cup, but he hasn’t even come close to actually conquering the field Down Under – a stark contrast to his performances in tennis’s three other major tournaments. He has won 89% of the matches played at Wimbledon. At the French Open? Again, 89%. How about the US Open? You guessed it: 89%. Heading into this year’s Australian Open, Alcaraz had a win rate of “just” 73%.

“I’m hungry for the title,” Alcaraz said on the eve of the tournament. “That’s my main goal for this year. The first tournament, the main goal. I really want to do better than in previous years.”

At this point in his career, Alcaraz’s most memorable match at Melbourne Park is his third round clash against the eventual semi-finalists in 2022. matteo berettini. The then 18-year-old Alcaraz produced an extremely impressive performance under bright sunlight on Rod Laver Arena, a match that went to a fifth-set decider and lasted more than four hours. And although Alcaraz fell just short, it was a glimpse of the amazing talent that would soon become the norm on the tour.

But since then, every Alcaraz trip to Australia has either ended in serious disappointment or been canceled before it even started.

In 2023, until recently ranked world No. 1, Alcaraz was forced to withdraw from the tournament after suffering a hamstring injury in the final weeks of his training camp. He returned in 2024 with much fanfare, but was troubled by an overkill alexander zverev He failed to deliver his best performance in a one-sided quarterfinal.

oh my alcaraz 😱

This is unreal 🔥@carlosalcaraz • @wwos • @ESPN • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #ao26 pic.twitter.com/fSZZ2aITyo

– #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 23 January 2026

Last year’s campaign was also derailed after losing to the 10-time Australian Open champion in the quarter-finals novak djokovic In sets of four.

“It’s hard not to get past the quarterfinals here in Australia because I feel like I’ve been playing good tennis here. I’ve been playing really good tennis the last two years,” Alcaraz said earlier in the week. “Zverev and Djokovic… if you’re in the quarterfinals these are unusual players you play against [ranked] One or two in the world.”

That loss to Djokovic propelled Alcaraz to the most successful season of his career. She won eight titles, including the US Open and the French Open, reached nine consecutive tournament finals between April and September, and won a career-best 71 matches out of 80 matches played.

Alcaraz has continued that form into this fortnight’s event at Melbourne Park, reaching the fourth round without losing a set. Their round of 32 match against France corentin moutet It was a two-hour display of ridiculous skill, craft and athleticism, a match that left his seeded opponent laughing at himself – and refusing to take no for an answer.

Now compete with American tommy paul Awaiting, the winner will face the 10th seed alexander bublik or australia’s top rank Alex de Minaur In the quarter finals.

By winning the Australian Open title this fortnight, Alcaraz will become the ninth male player to win all four major titles in his career. He will also be the youngest player in the group to achieve this feat by surpassing his compatriot rafael nadalThe current record is for almost two full years.

“It’s an amazing thing to accomplish a career Grand Slam. To be the youngest.” [to have] To do it first is even better,” Alcaraz said. “I’m happy with the way I see myself improving every match, every practice. I know I will keep moving forward.

“I feel like this year is probably one of those years that I’ll be able to, or I’ll have a chance.”