Carlos Alcaraz made tennis history by defeating Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final, becoming the youngest player in the Open era to achieve a career Grand Slam and breaking Rafael Nadal’s record. Despite losing the first set 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena, Alcaraz rallied to win the next three sets 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, clinching his first Melbourne victory.
At 22 years old, Alcaraz has previously won each of the other three Grand Slam tournaments twice but had not succeeded in Australia until now. In a significant turnaround from his quarter-final exits in the past two years, including a defeat by Djokovic last year, he reached his inaugural final this year.
Alcaraz’s victory over the 11-time champion Djokovic in just over three hours avenged his loss from the previous year. By achieving this feat at 22 years and 272 days, Alcaraz surpassed the record set by Don Budge in 1938 and became younger than both Nadal and Rod Laver when they reached similar milestones.
With seven Grand Slam singles titles under his belt, Alcaraz is now the youngest player to achieve this feat, surpassing Bjorn Borg. This win also places him three titles ahead of his rival Jannik Sinner, whom Djokovic defeated in the semi-finals, making it a challenging task for Sinner to catch up.
Djokovic, who was aiming to become the all-time leader in Grand Slam singles titles with 25, faced physical struggles in the latter sets of the final match. Despite a strong start and a response in the fourth set, Djokovic could not force a decider, missing the opportunity to become the oldest man to win a title in the Open Era.
After the match, Djokovic congratulated Alcaraz on his historic achievement and acknowledged the presence of Nadal, expressing his respect and gratitude for sharing the court with the legendary player.