BY OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN-ROSE
Carlos Alcaraz has won the 2026 Australian Open.
At the age of 22, the top-seeded Spaniard has become the youngest player to complete the career Grand Slam, defeating 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in four sets in Melbourne.
Alcaraz now has seven major titles, the most ever by a male tennis player before turning 23.
“Nobody knows how hard I’ve been working to get this trophy,” Alcaraz said during the trophy presentation ceremony. “I just appreciate this moment so much.”
Despite dropping the opening set and giving the 38-year-old Djokovic an opening to win his record 25th major title, Alcaraz upped his game and slowly began to wear the fourth-seeded Serbian star down.
With an array of powerful forehands and skillful drop shots, Alcaraz pressed his physical advantage in the latter stages of the match, which took three hours and two minutes to complete.
He finished off the match with the only service break of the fourth set to prevail, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.
“Thank you very much for pushing me in the tough moments during the matches,” Alcaraz said in praising the fans in attendance. “I can’t wait to come back next year.”
Both players were coming off grueling five-set victories in their semifinal wins − Alcaraz over Alexander Zverev and Djokovic over Jannik Sinner.
“I have to be honest,” Djokovic said in his speech, “I didn’t think that I would be standing in the closing ceremony of a Grand Slam once again, so I think I owe you the gratitude as well for pushing me forward over the last couple of weeks.”
Alcaraz vs. Djokovic scoreboard
Carlos Alcaraz (1) 2 6 6 7
Novak Djokovic (4) 6 2 3 5
Carlos Alcaraz Grand Slam titles
Steve Gardner
With his victory in this year’s Australian Open, Carlos Alcaraz now has seven major titles to his credit before he turns 23. His only loss in a Grand Slam final came at Wimbledon in 2025 was when he lost to Jannik Sinner in four sets.
In an appreciative postmatch speech, 38-year-old Djokovic took a quick moment to address the obvious age gap between him and the 22-year-old Alcaraz.
“I wish you best of luck for the rest of your career. You’re so young, you have a lot of time … like myself,” he said as the crowd laughed in unison. “So I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other many more times in the next 10 years.”
Both players held their serves through the first 11 games in the fourth set, but Alcaraz finally came through to convert the first break point for either player when it mattered most.
With the match just passing the three-hour mark, Djokovic made a pair of unforced errors on his serve to give Alzaraz two championship points.
After Alcaraz took the first game of the fourth set, the two champions engaged in a heavyweight slugfest on Djokovic’s serve.
In a game that featured more than 12 minutes of intense back-and-forth action, Djokovic saved six break points to hold on.
As the match hits the two-hour mark, Carlos Alcaraz has moved to within a set of completing the career grand slam at age 22.
He broke Djokovic twice to take the third set 6-3, and the momentum seems to be firmly on his side.
The 38-year-old tennis veteran has won 101 titles (72 hard court), including 24 majors. He’s spent 429 weeks at No. 1 during his career.
While Alcaraz entered the match as the top seed in the tournament. The 22-year-old has won 24 titles (9 hard court), including six major titles. He has spent 56 weeks at No. 1 during his career.
