Australian Open: Can top gun Alcaraz keep his date with the career slam?

If Carlos Alcaraz manages to hold aloft the Australian Open trophy on 1 February, he will be the youngest man in history to complete a career slam, at 22 years and 272 days. While that’s one of the major talking points of the year’s first slam which kicks off on Sunday, it’s also an occasion to reflect on how that stacks up against the Big Three.

It’s a fellow Spaniard who holds the current record; Rafael Nadal was 24 years and 101 days old when he completed all four at the 2010 US Open, the eighth of his 22 major titles. 'Rafa' is comfortably ahead of his peers in achieving this feat as Roger Federer managed it at Roland-Garros 2009 aged 27 years and 303 days, while Novak Djokovic reached the landmark at 29 years and 14 days at the clay court slam in 2016.

What’s even more awe-inspiring is that should Alcaraz manage to keep his date with the only slam where he is yet to play the final, he would become the youngest of all time to do so, bettering the amateur era record of Don Budge, who did it at 22 years and 363 days. Moral of the story: a career slam will be one of the last signposts left for the Murcian at such a young age after six slams, an Olympic silver, and of course the world no.1 ranking.

Backing him to pull it off is Federer, who said at a pre-tournament interaction with the media: “Those things are tough… It’s true, in order to complete the career Grand Slam already now would be crazy. I hope he does because for the game, again, that would be an unbelievable, special moment.”

It’s a five-member elite club so far which has completed a career Grand Slam, comprising Andre Agassi, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, while Rod Laver famously captured all four majors in a single season in 1969, in the pre-Open era.

For someone who claimed his first slam only at the 2022 US Open, Alcaraz was initially hailed as the man who had the best game and similar physicality to take over from Nadal as clay court king. However, he went on to exceed expectations as an all-court monster, as six of his majors so far are evenly spread across the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open, with two triumphs in each.

It’s an anomaly that he has not managed to open his account at Melbourne Park, where his best results so far have been two quarter-final exits against Alexander Zverev in 2024 and Djokovic last year. While 2026 beckons tennis fans as another year of the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry, the Spaniard comes into the tournament in the form of his life and as top seed for the first time after seizing the year-end trophy last season, along with eight ATP titles.

However, it will be a personal challenge for Alcaraz to maintain continuity in his performance graph without personal coach Juan Carlos Ferrero for the first time since he turned pro in 2018. The change was facilitated by assistant coach Samuel ‘Samu’ López stepping up to take charge, someone who has travelled to a handful of events last season in place of Ferrero.

“It’s a chapter of life that had to end,” Alcaraz told the media in response to the obvious question. ''I learned a lot. Probably thanks to him I’m the player that I am right now. I’m really grateful for these seven years.”

Nonetheless, this is a new era for Alcaraz. Changing from the coach who guided the world no. 1 to the summit of the sport and all six of his majors, the 2026 season will have a different feel regardless of on-court results.

With an 11-4 record in Melbourne and in fine form, it is in the top seed’s hands to write the next chapter in his already storied career.