Only a handful of players in history have been able to win all four majors during their career and two names could be added to this list by the start of next month.
Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek are both in contention to claim a career Slam at the age of 24 and 22. Only five men and six women have achieved this milestone since the start of the Open Era in 1968. Among them are every member of the Big Three, Serena Williams, Steffi Graf and Billie Jean King.
Alcaraz heads into the men’s draw as the top seed and is eager to break new ground at Melbourne Park. He has yet to progress beyond the quarter-final stage and was knocked out of the tournament by Novak Djokovic 12 months ago.
“I think this is my main goal for this year. It’s the first tournament, the main goal,” Alcaraz said of his bid to win the Australian Open.
“So it’s going to be really interesting for me how I have prepared … I think I just had a really good pre-season, just to be in a good shape.”
Should he succeed, the Spaniard would set a new record by becoming the youngest man in history to have claimed a career slam. He has already won each of the other three majors twice.
All of that success was achieved under the guidance of coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, who recently made a shock departure from the team following a mutual agreement. Taking over the role is Samuel Lopez, who has the full backing of Alcaraz.
“I’m just having plenty of confidence in the team that I have right now … the practices have gone really well. I’m feeling well,” he said.
“So I’m just excited about the tournament and to begin with the team that I have right now.”
Alcaraz’s first test will be against Adam Walton. It will be his fifth appearance at the Australian Open, where he made his Grand Slam debut in 2021.
“I’m just hungry for the title, hungry to have a really good result here. I’m just getting ready as much as I can,” he states. “I’m really excited about the tournament.”
Swiatek gunning for glory
In the women’s draw, Swiatek will be hoping to dismiss recent doubts cast over her level. At the United Cup, she won three out of five matches played. However, both of her losses were to top 20 players, which is becoming an alarming trend. Since the US Open, Swiatek has recorded a win-loss record of 3-6 against top 20 players across five tournaments.
“The Sydney matches weren’t the smoothest ones. It wasn’t an easy start,” she said of her United Cup performances. “I think I still need to work on some stuff.
“Overall I think it’s also going to be about the mentality and if I’m going to be able to go on court and just enjoy playing and give this extra energy, bring the intensity and be there every point.
“Not really care if I’m going to make some mistakes or something will not work. Just go forward and try to push.
“So I’m working on all of this stuff. Hopefully it’s going to be fine.”
Swiatek will be making her eighth main draw appearance at the Australian Open and is a two-time semi-finalist. Last year, she narrowly missed out on a place in the final after getting edged out in a decisive tiebreaker by Madison Keys, who went on to claim the title.
“Obviously it would be a dream come true (a career Grand Slam),” she said.
“But this is not my clear goal that I wake up with. I’m thinking more about how I want to play, what I want to improve.”
Swiatek starts her title bid against Chinese qualifier Yue Yuan.
NOTE: Quotes via Australian Open media day
