A holiday in Miami, time at home surrounded by loved ones and plenty of board games – that is how Carlos Alcaraz mentally recharged during the off-season before starting another bid to make history at the Australian Open.
Victory in Melbourne would complete the career Grand Slam for the Spaniard, who has already won each of the other three majors twice.
Should he do so, the 22-year-old would become the youngest player – and only the ninth overall – to achieve the milestone in the men’s singles, with six-time Australian Open champion Roger Federer among those backing him to do so.
Despite taking a nine-week break from competitive tennis following a landmark 2025 season which saw him win eight titles, including the French Open and US Open, and finish as year-end number one, Alcaraz showed few signs of rust as he overcame Australia’s Adam Walton 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-2.
“It was a really long season, a tough one – a lot of tough moments, a lot of good moments,” Alcaraz said.
“I had two weeks [on holiday]. One in Miami with a big group of friends – we had fun – and then a second week in Turks and Caicos to relax a little.
“I stayed home, I recharged the batteries. Mentally, I am fresh to play in the first tournament of the year and I’m ready to play really good tennis in Melbourne.”
Detailing his daily pre-season routine, he added: “I used to practise the whole morning – start at 09:00 and finish at 14:00 or even 15:00. The whole morning is about working out physically and on the court.
“After that, I took almost every afternoon off to do whatever I want – stay with family or friends, play board games, chilling at home.
“It’s a better way to recharge the batteries, staying at home with the people you love.”
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam at which Alcaraz is yet to reach the final, with the quarter-finals in 2024 and 2025 his best showings, but he advanced to round two in comfortable fashion against Walton.
He had to wait until the eighth game of the opening set to convert a break point and also had his serve broken in the second, but immediately bounced back with a break of his own and proved too strong in the key moments, pulling away in the second set tie-break to win it 7-2.
However, his 38 winners were almost matched by his 36 unforced errors and he only converted four of his 10 break points – statistics he will be eager to improve on in his second-round meeting with Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann.
“It was difficult to find the good spot [against Walton],” added Alcaraz. “He was one step forward than me. He was always in a good position, long rallies and solid from the baseline. His flat ball was sometimes really difficult for me.
“It was a really solid match and when he was able to step in on the court and play aggressive, he did and that made it really difficult in the match.”
Elsewhere in the men’s draw on day one, third seed and 2025 runner-up Alexander Zverev came from a set behind to defeat Canada’s Gabriel Diallo in four sets.
The German lost the first-set tie-break 7-1 but only conceded seven games across the next three sets to set up a second-round meeting with either Alexei Popyrin or Alexandre Muller.
Kazakhstan’s 10th seed Alexander Bublik beat Jenson Brooksby 6-4 6-4 6-4 while fellow seeds Francisco Cerundolo, Frances Tiafoe and Corentin Moutet also advanced in straight sets.
