The stage was set at Melbourne Park on Sunday for a historic Australian Open final between No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz and No. 4 seed Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz outlasted Djokovic in four sets — 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 — to become the youngest player, at just 22, to complete the career Grand Slam, surpassing Rafael Nadal, who accomplished the feat at 24. This marked Alcaraz’s seventh Grand Slam title in his young but already highly successful career.
Not long after the victory, Alcaraz took to social media to celebrate the historic accomplishment. He shared a picture of himself as a young boy, writing, “Job completed!” He also posted another image hugging the trophy, adding, “AND WE DID IT!!!”
It didn’t come easy, though. After a first set that lasted roughly 35 minutes, Djokovic seemed to be picking up exactly where he left off in his five-set victory over Jannik Sinner. He landed 78% of his first serves and won 93% of those first-serve points.
Djokovic was chasing an astonishing 25th Grand Slam title, which would have made him the most decorated player in tennis history.
That seemed possible after the opening set, but Alcaraz settled in, and his power proved just too much for the 38-year-old to handle — especially after the energy he expended in his match against Sinner on Friday and in the early stages of the match against Alcaraz on Sunday.
Nonetheless, Alcaraz now joins an exclusive group of just three other players who have won all four Grand Slam titles: Nadal, Djokovic, and Roger Federer. Djokovic last completed the feat roughly nine years ago at age 29.
“I think [Djokovic] deserves some ovation for sure,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “You’re talking about how I’m doing amazing things, but that was you doing them, and it was really inspiring.
“My team over there,” he added. “Nobody knows how hard I’ve been working to get this trophy. I just chase this so much — in preseason I was a little bit emotional.”