By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Photo credit: Koji Watanabe/Getty
Topping the field Down Under to complete the career Grand Slam is a top priority for Carlos Alcaraz n 2026, the world No. 1 said in a new interview.
Speaking to Spanish news agency MARCA ahead of his Six Kings Slam exhibition appearance in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this week, Alcaraz addresses the state of his ankle injury, his ongoing rivalry with Jannik Sinner and his 2026 goals. Read the complete MARCA interview with Alcaraz here.
Alcaraz, who fell to 10-time AO champion Novak Djokovic in the 2025 Australian Open quarterfinals, said he’s circled Melbourne as a main priority in January. Alcaraz has yet to surpass the quarterfinals Down Under, but is driven to try to complete the career Grand Slam.
“I do have it marked because Australia is always one of the objectives at the beginning of each year,” Alcaraz told MARCA. “In Melbourne I have always played good tennis, but it has been difficult for me to reach the final rounds.
“This year I’m going to prepare as well as possible to at least get past the quarterfinals.”
The six-time Grand Slam champion won his eighth title of the season in Tokyo this month, avenging his Laver Cup loss to Taylor Fritz in the Tokyo final despite playing on a gimpy left ankle. Alcaraz said the ankle has improved ahead of the Six Kings Slam.
“The ankle has been going well, it has been recovering well as far as it goes,” Alcaraz said. “It has been a grade two sprain and without giving him much rest it always takes a little longer to recover.
“Maybe I will still be playing not with discomfort, but with a little doubt. Those doubts always take time to go away, but the truth is that we are doing a good job. The ankle is respecting me.”
At last month’s US Open Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner made history becoming the first men in the Open Era to square off in three consecutive Grand Slam finals. Should the pair meet again in the Six Kings Slam final, Alcaraz believes the result will influence their ongoing rivalry.
“He has to win two [matches] and I have to win one,” Alcaraz said. “Hopefully we will meet in the final. It’s not an official tournament, but we play it as if it were.
“On a mental level, whoever wins here can have an influence.”
Earlier this week, Nick Kyrgios said he believes Alcaraz will eventually break Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic’s record of 24 major championships. Alcaraz said it’s too early, and tennis is too complicated, to make that assessment.
“If we look at it in 10 years’ time, the truth is that it is,” Alcaraz said. “I don’t take anything for granted because every year is different.
“Players advance, new players come out and it’s more complicated. I hope he continues at this pace, but in tennis every season you have to give your best and that’s the most complicated thing.”
