Roger Federer says Carlos Alcaraz achieving a career slam before his 23rd birthday would be ‘an unbelievable special moment’ for tennis.
The world No.1 is in with a shot of reaching the milestone at the Australian Open, which is an event he has yet to go beyond the quarter-final stage. Melbourne Park has been an Achilles heel for Alcaraz, who has won the other three major events twice since 2022. Last year, he won the French Open and the US Open.
Federer won his first major in 2003, but it wasn’t until six years later that he claimed his career slam at the age of 27. The Swiss maestro is returning to the Australian Open this year to headline the event’s first Opening Ceremony on Saturday, where he will be taking part in an exhibition match.
Speaking about Alcaraz during a press conference on Thursday, Federer said he is rooting for the Spaniard but at the same time issued a warning about the threat he faces. Among those challenging him is Jannik Sinner, who aims to become the first player since Novak Djokovic to win the title for a third consecutive year.
“He knows about it. It’s like Rory (McIlroy) going for the Masters, you know, those things are tough,” Federer said of Alcaraz.
“But at the end of the day his momentum shifts towards the first round and then it’s point for point mentality. That’s what it is.
“But it’s true, at his young age, to be able to complete the calendar or career grand slam already now, I mean, would be crazy.” he added.
“So let’s see if he is able to do crazy this week and I hope he does because for the game, again, that would be an unbelievable special moment.
“But he has another hundred and whatever players that say like, ‘we don’t agree with those plans.’ So they’ll try everything to stop him.”
Alcaraz and Sinner have formed a fierce rivalry on the Tour and have won the past eight major titles between them. In their head-to-head, Alcaraz leads 10-6 and has won seven out of their nine meetings since 2024. His two losses were at Wimbledon and the ATP Finals last year.
Federer knows about rivalries on the Tour. He played Djokovic 50 times, Nadal 40 times and Andy Murray 25 times, winning 53 of those matches.
“The rivalry between Alcaraz and Sinner, I think, is a great one. I mean, they play incredible tennis,” he said.
“That French Open final was unreal. I think the game, not that it needed it, but I think it was great that we had it.
“Because I feel like for a second, for a moment, the world stood still in the sporting world and watched towards Paris and what was going on in that epic fifth set.
“Because it could have ended much, much sooner for Jannik, obviously and then all of a sudden, it just ended up in this most crazy fashion, maybe one of the greatest games we’ve ever had in our sport.
“So I think it’s good we still live off that momentum and then they backed it up by playing each other in all those other finals and everybody else is trying to keep up and they’re still trying to pull away.
“Because what we’ve seen in terms of their progression in the last years, it’s been wonderful. I practiced with both guys a little bit and they’re incredible ball strikers and there’s obviously more to come.”
Just how great the battle between Alcaraz and Sinner will be remains to be seen. Both players are finalising their preparations ahead of the Australian Open, which will begin on Sunday. Alcaraz will play Adam Walton in the first round and Sinner faces Hugo Gaston.
