MELBOURNE – Nick Kyrgios was left wanting more. The Australian had made a tempting offer to Carlos Alcaraz: if he won the title in Melbourne, Kyrgios would take care of organising the celebration. But the Spaniard had no time for parties, barely enough to spend a few moments with his brother and some friends on Sunday night.
“I would have liked my body to still have the energy to do something, but I couldn’t. What I did was more than enough,” he said. The Australian Open champion had another commitment just hours later: posing for the cameras with the only trophy missing from his collection of the four Grand Slams.
In the Carlton Gardens, wearing a dark Louis Vuitton outfit after securing the title he needed to become the youngest male player in history to win all four Grand Slams, Alcaraz looked ahead, drawing a comparison with Novak Djokovic: “I’m not really thinking about playing until I’m 38. Let’s see how long I’ll keep playing. Hopefully I can still be in great shape at that age, competing, challenging younger players, and playing finals of Grand Slams and the biggest tournaments.”
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
The Serbian, just months away from turning 39, defeated Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals and came within two sets of claiming his 25th Grand Slam title. But Alcaraz, at 22, denied him and handed him his first defeat in an Australian Open final.
The inspiration Djokovic provides, Alcaraz says, goes beyond longevity.
“It’s about the power of desire. I think that’s everything. If you decide something, work for it and go for it, nobody is going to stop you. I think he embodies that. That’s where I take inspiration from him: the way he believes in himself and believes that he’s still able to achieve great things,” said the owner of 25 ATP titles.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
“The fact that he still believes he can achieve great things in this sport is really impressive,” he added.
Djokovic, meanwhile, cast doubt over his own future after the match in Melbourne. “I want to make it to the 2028 Olympic Games, yes, but that could mean playing just a couple of tournaments a year, I don’t know. Maybe I won’t come back to Australia as a professional tennis player. I’m taking it day by day. Right now, all I know is that I want to spend time with my family,” he said, reported by Sasa Ozmo.
Alcaraz, already with his seventh Grand Slam title in his pocket — three more than Sinner — has decided to commemorate it with a kangaroo tattoo: “Possibly on one of my legs.”
Follow our coverage of the 2026 Australian Open on our Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook accounts.
