Alcaraz starts Aussie Open with a win

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.

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.

Playing in his first Grand Slam match since splitting from long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz 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.

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.