The maximalist beat the minimalist. The 22-year-old beat the 38-year-old. In a battle of records, the player trying to win the career Grand Slam at the youngest age for a man in the Open Era beat the player trying to win his 25th major, which would distance him further from the field. All of which is to say, Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic 2–6, 6–2, 6–3, 7–5, to win the 2026 Australian Open. He completed his goal of the career Grand Slam. At 22, he has now won seven majors (for perspective, that is as many as John McEnroe won in his entire career). He stays No. 1 in the rankings and is fast-moving up the greatest-ever power rankings.
After taking match point, Alcaraz dropped to his knees, which resembled his position two hours earlier. In the first set, it was Djokovic who drew first blood, playing a brilliant set of tennis and looking the fresher player after the two grueling semifinals 48 hours earlier. Then, however, a combination of Djokovic and biology did its thing. Djokovic suddenly looked drained, which upped his risk threshold, and he began taking wilder cuts. Alcaraz, meanwhile, found his range on his serve and groundstrokes, won the second set, then the third and closed out the match. His offense, as usual, and his valence off the ground was something to behold. But this match was as much about his defense and point prolonging, which took a toll on his 38-year-old opponent.
History 🏆
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 1, 2026
Career slam complete, take a bow @carlosalcaraz 🇪🇸@wwos • @espn • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #AO26 pic.twitter.com/pd7ye35TTq
Alcaraz must be gratified for any of 100 reasons. He was intensely outspoken about his desire for this career Grand Slam. He showed a lot of grit and conditioning to go along with his fireworks. That he was able to finish strong after such a taxing semifinal speaks volumes about his off-court work. He also inaugurated a new coach, Samuel López, in the offseason. It was an abrupt change from his longtime mentor, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and had plenty of skeptics wondering why he was doing this. As the tournament progressed, the coaching change became less of an issue, and suddenly López looked like the ideal aide-de-camp.
As for Djokovic, he gave tennis, and perhaps himself, a reminder of why he is still playing, still out there chasing at age 38. Unfortunately for him, biology did its thing after the first set of the final. But what a tournament, and what a statement. While he didn’t win the 25th major, he has now reached the semifinals or better in five majors running. In a wildly gracious concession speech, he pointedly did not say see you next year, but given how close he came, you have to think he has a newfound reason to carry on.
To get that 25th major, however, he’ll have to meet the man of the moment in tennis. Beating Alcaraz in a best-of-five match is a task that only one man has handled in the past year. And next up, King Carlos will go to Roland Garros, where he is the two-time defending champion.
Sunday night, Rafael Nadal was seated behind the baseline of his fellow Spaniard, and on the other side of the net was a 24-time major champion, and yet, Alcaraz may be playing tennis at its most elevated level ever.
More Tennis on Sports Illustrated
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Carlos Alcaraz Completes Career Grand Slam With Australian Open Win.
