Eye on the prize for Carlos Alcaraz with a mission to complete grand slam collection at Australian Open

Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz is eager to complete his grand slam collection by claiming the Australian Open trophy.

Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz is determined to complete his grand slam by taking home the only trophy he’s missing, the Australian Open.

Declaring he feels ready and confident, Alcaraz says he has the belief to go all the way.

“This is the only slam I miss,’’ he said.

“I really want to take the trophy home, that’s my goal and I go for it. I hope at the end of the second week I’ll be there and lifting the trophy.

“Every tournament that I go to I feel I can go far. That’s the confidence you should have before the tournament begun. I just believe in myself and in the work I do in pre-season and the work I do to get ready. I’m ready and feeling great on court. I have the confidence to go as far as I want.”

Alcaraz, 21, is playing at Melbourne Park for the fourth time and faces Alexander Shevchenko in the first round.

Alcaraz, 21, is playing at Melbourne Park for the fourth time and faces Alexander Shevchenko in the first round. Picture: Brendan Beckett

He says he enjoys the rivalry with top players including Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud.

“It’s always great when you’re having such great players around to push yourself to the limit and improve as much as you can,’’ he said.

“A lot of times they beat me and I beat them and that’s the beauty of our sport, you can lose against anybody or win against anybody.

“I know that people have talk, they are going to talk and the questions about who is going to be there for the next 10-15 years, for me it’s going to be normal. I’m not bored about being asked about other players.”

Alcaraz has come out with his father, uncle and brother, and has mixed up his routine by staying at Crown Towers. Picture: Brendan Beckett

Alcaraz has come out with his father, uncle and brother, and has mixed up his routine by staying at Crown Towers.

“I love this place, the best tennis players in the world stay there and have in the past. Since 2024 I started to stay here and for me everything here is really comfortable. They take care good of you and super nice people,’’ he said.

The likeable Spaniard also weighed in on the doping situation surrounding Sinner, who is set to face court in April after twice testing positive for the banned steroid clostebol in March last year.

He said “it’s fair” that the defending Australian Open champion is still playing.

“I’m not concerned about it, it’s not my business,’’ Alcaraz said.

“I just want to think about myself. If Jannik is still playing it’s because of something. He’s done nothing wrong and it is fair that he is still playing. I know Jannik is a really good guy but it’s a really difficult situation but it’s probably something deeper than we know now. I believe in fair sports, it is a thing.”