Alcaraz, Djokovic fine-tune Australian Open preparations

Carlos Alcaraz touched down in Melbourne on Sunday night with his sights firmly set on the Australian Open, the season’s first Grand Slam and the only one of the four missing from his extraordinary CV.

After a demanding preseason in Murcia and Villena, with daily double sessions that included work on court and in the gym, and some significant changes to his game (his serve and forehand, for example), Alcaraz headed down under with his team to continue his preparations on Australian soil.

Thus, with no time to lose, the No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings practised in Rod Laver Arena with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Monday, just a few hours after landing. On Tuesday, Alcaraz then faced off with 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in a practice set.

It was the fifth time the two players had shared a practice court (previously in Madrid, Roland Garros, Paris-Bercy and the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin). This time, victory went to Djokovic, who won a close practice set 7-5, under the watchful eye of Andy Murray, who is making his first outing as the Serb’s coach at the Australian Open.

Djokovic has a 4-3 lead in his Lexus ATP Head2Head with Alcaraz, whom he last defeated in the final of the Paris Olympics last summer. The Spaniard, however, has come out on top of the two Grand Slam finals that have pitted the two players against one another, both of them at Wimbledon (2023 and 2024).

Alcaraz, who will discover his route to the final when the draw is held on Thursday, ended his 2024 season with Spain’s defeat in the last eight of the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. The Murcia native then took a short holiday before focusing 100 per cent on having a solid preseason in Murcia and Villena to ensure he is ready to fight for the Australian Open title.

Although there are still a few days remaining until he takes to the court in anger (the tournament starts on January 12), Alcaraz looks more than ready to take on the challenge of claiming his fifth Grand Slam title, one that would make him the youngest player of all time to complete the collection of all four majors.

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es