CARLOS ALCARAZ became the youngest man to complete a clean sweep of all four tennis majors – as he ruined Novak Djokovic’s record-breaking dreams.
The Spanish superstar’s 2-6 6-2 6-3 7-5 triumph in the Australian Open final means he is the ninth bloke in history to complete the career Grand Slam.
The 22-year-old emulates Andre Agassi, Don Budge, Djokovic, Roy Emerson, Roger Federer, Rod Laver, Rafael Nadal and Fred Perry by completing his CV.
And he did so by preventing Djokovic, still sprightly at 38, from claiming a historic Slam No25, which would have seen him move one ahead of Australian Margaret Court.
Nadal, 39, was nodding in approval from the VIP seats as compatriot Alcaraz lifted his seventh Slam from 29 outings.
Nobody has accomplished this much at such a young age – not even Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Bjorn Borg nor Pete Sampras.
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Provided he stays fit and there is the hunger and desire, who knows how far he can go – maybe even 25 is a realistic target at some point.
While the money for being champion is decent – AUD $4.15million (£2.1million) – it was more the chance to rewrite the history books.
It had been a blustery, much cooler day in Melbourne and the Rod Laver Arena roof was shut partially, and some thought these conditions might benefit Alcaraz, the younger man by 16 years.
But that was not the case in a 33-minute one-sided first set as Djokovic played close to perfect tennis, barely producing an unenforced error.
In the closing points of that set, Alcaraz cried out to his team “impossible” as he struggled to stem the one-way traffic.
Djokovic had probably not got to bed until close to 6am on Saturday morning following his thrilling five-set semi-final win over defending champion Jannik Sinner, once he had done all his media, re-fuelling and stretching.
And yet here he was, more than 38 hours later, the ten-time champion playing faultless shots and winning key rallies in his 11th Australian Open final appearance.
This was Alcaraz’s first big tournament since he had ditched Juan Carlos Ferrero as coach and he did not have that focal point or wise old head when things were going against him in the early exchanges.
Alcaraz’s situation certainly improved in set two, as the tide turned considerably in his favour, and he was winning the fitness battle.
Even the luck of the ball was going his way, as evident by one outrageous fluke that bounced off the net and landed as dead as a stone on Djokovic’s side of the court.
The wind on court, particularly from the end to the umpire’s right, was proving a challenge.
After Alcaraz squared up at 1-1, with Djokovic off court for a bathroom break, the world No1 furiously complained to the umpire and tournament director about why they had significantly closed the roof but not fully shut it.
Tim Henman called it “bizarre” and wondered if officials were hedging their bets with rain in the nearby area.
Once the moaning had stopped, the level of tennis went up a notch in the third set and the athleticism on display from both men was off the charts.
The Murcia Magician managed to win the point of the 15-day tournament when somehow, from the back of the court, he retrieved a shot from Djokovic that went around the net post.
Djokovic had saved 16 of 18 break points against Sinner on Friday evening and Saturday morning but those remarkable defensive skills could not be consistently repeated in game nine of set four as Alcaraz moved 2-1 ahead.
Though a trainer and doctor were then called for the Serbian, he did not need to take a medical time-out.
But then again, whatever medication they could have given him, it would not have stopped the Alcaraz onslaught.
Djokovic whipped up the crowd when he had a break point in game nine of the fourth set but he could not convert and then Alcaraz completed the job by breaking at 6-5.
He clinched it on his first championship point when Djokovic missed with a forehand.
It is now nine Slams in a row where Djokovic has not been victorious – his longest barren spell since the end of the 2010 season.
This is probably his final chance to get his hands on that elusive No25 Slam but whether he gets there or not in the final stage of a remarkable career, he will still be considered by many as the greatest of all time.
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