World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz conquers the GOAT Novak Djokovic to claim thrilling Australian Open title

World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz has rewritten the record books, winning his first Australian Open title to become the youngest man to complete the career grand slam.

Stunned by his history-chasing rival Novak Djokovic in the first set, the 22-year-old Alcaraz steamrolled his way to 2-6 6-2 6-3 7-5 inside Rod Laver Arena on a cool Sunday night in Melbourne.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Carlos Alcaraz conquers the GOAT to claim thrilling Aus Open title.

The Spaniard, who now owns seven major titles, is 91 days younger than American Don Budge when he completed the set in the midst of his 1938 calendar-year grand slam.

He joins Budge, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic as just the ninth man to win all four slams.

Alcaraz needed just one match point to claim the championship, sinking to the court in relief before a smiling Djokovic stepped over the net to congratulate the young star.

A kangaroo tattoo now beckons to join the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower and strawberry ink on Alcaraz’s body to mark his US Open, French Open and Wimbledon triumphs respectively.

“Wow,” Alcaraz said as he opened his speech with a tribute to Djokovic.

“You talk about how I’m doing these things but what you are doing is inspiring. Putting in the right work, hard work every day with your team, every tournament you go, playing such great tennis.

“For me I just enjoy so much watching you play. For me it’s been an honour, sharing the locker, the court, watching you play, thank you very much for what you are doing — it’s really special to me.”

Alcaraz thanked his team after what he described as an “emotional rollercoaster” of the off-season, having to ignore the reaction to moving on from high-profile coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The superstar won his first grand slam in New York in 2022 when he was just 19, with this maiden Australian Open success extending his magnificent run to five straight years with a major title — and his lead over contemporary rival Jannik Sinner now sits at three.

Incredibly, Alcaraz has needed just 20 grand slam appearances to reach seven titles and surpass Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker (six titles apiece) while drawing level with fellow all-time greats John McEnroe, John Newcombe and Mats Wilander.

“Congratulations Carlos, an amazing tournament, an amazing couple of weeks,” Djokovic said in a brilliant runner-up speech.

“To your coach, your family, your team, what you’ve been doing — I think the best word to describe is historic, legendary. I wish you the best of luck for the rest of your career.

“You’re so young, you have a lot of time like myself so I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other many more times in the next 10 years — not!”

Djokovic, already the greatest ever, was bidding to stand alone as the sport’s greatest major champion but remains stuck on 24 titles alongside Margaret Court’s mark set either side of the amateur and professional eras.

He thanked fans while openly sharing the prospect that he may not return for next year’s grand slam, saying “God knows what happens tomorrow, let alone in six months or 12 months”.

“So it has been a great ride. I love you guys,” Djokovic said.

Djokovic and Alcaraz also took time time to share a kind word to long-time rival Nadal in the front row.

“It feels very weird to see you there and not here, but I just want to say it’s been an honour to share the court with you and to have you watching the final here, first time for me, obviously a bit of a strange feeling but thank you for being present,” Djokovic said.

“Too many Spanish legends, it felt like I was two against one tonight — it wasn’t fair, but it’s OK.”

Alcaraz said: “We had great battles on the court, not too many, but for me it was an honour sharing the court, practising, playing matches and now seeing you watching my matches — it’s a privilege, thank you for being here.”

The Serbian’s head hit the pillow after his epic semi-final just 36 hours before Sunday’s final got underway, and though his tennis reached an incredible level he slowly ran out of puff as Alcaraz just kept sending balls back over the net.

“It must at times tonight for the 38-year-old feel as though he’s playing a younger version of himself, because this is what he did to others,” Mark Petchey said in commentary in a marathon second game of the fourth set.

More than 10 minutes later Djokovic had saved break points and held serve, pumping his fist with a roar to get his fans in the crowd going.

But that did little to mask that he was no longer at his physical peak as he continued to stretch between points and after games.

Djokovic was on fire in the first set, his serve and forehand doing the damage as Alcaraz struggled in the conditions.

“There’s a subdued look on his face. He’s a little shellshocked early on,” Todd Woodbridge said on Nine with the Spaniard down 1-4.

Jim Courier added: “A lot of the things he likes to do are muted in these cold conditions.”

Alcaraz kicked into gear quickly in the second, breaking in the third game as Djokovic lost the adrenaline and appeared to give up on the set to conserve energy.

Alcaraz shook off concerns about the roof closing after the second set to reach another level in a third set punctuated by an extraordinary rally that had fans on their feet.

Both players were clearly spent from their lengthy semi-finals, with Alcaraz having played for five and a half hours on Friday before Djokovic spent four hours and 10 minutes on court.

Five straight games in the middle of the fourth set lasted no more than five points with neither player getting close to a crucial break of serve.

Pressed by Alcaraz in the eighth game, Djokovic held serve then once more played up to a crowd desperate to witness a winner-takes-all fifth set as he found himself with a break point.

But Alcaraz saved it then produced a stunning forehand winner — apologising in the midst of bedlam inside Rod Laver Arena — and Djokovic went long on the next point to lose the game.

Djokovic, serving to stay in the match, changed racquets to match the new balls and held to put the pressure back on the Spaniard.

And Alcaraz simply ate it up, winning a thrilling 24-shot rally on his way to breaking Djokovic once and for all.

Djokovic is now 10-1 in Australian Open finals — and his overall record of 24 majors is no doubt under threat.

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