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Carlos Alcaraz's behaviour has been addressed by Australian Open star's rivals
Reach Daily Express | January 18, 2026 7:39 PM CST

Carlos Alcaraz is coming into the Australian Open seeded as the number one male competitor and is chasing a career Grand Slam. Should he do so, the 22-year-old Spaniard will become the youngest ever to achieve this.

He's yet to secure victory Down Under, having already won the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. Alongside Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz is the face of men's tennis right now and it looks likely he will be at the forefront for the next decade. He faces Australian ace Adam Whalton in the first round - a player he's played once before and beaten.

Ahead of his chase for glory in Australia, Express Sport takes a closer look at everything fellow players and legends have said about him

Novak Djokovic

One of 'The Big Three', receiving praise from Novak Djokovic is like being knighted by a tennis God. The Serbian still competes at the top level but Alcaraz and Sinner have established themselves as better players in recent years.

"He's a wonderful person with great values. A family with [coach] Juan Carlos Ferrero, a team of great people," said 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic. "That's more important than anything. He's an extraordinary champion, still young but already with many trophies and successes. As a person, I also like him very much."

Moving on to the second tennis God, it's some words of praise from Roger Federer, who recently spoke about Alcaraz ahead of this tournament. Federer achieved the career Grand Slam at 27 so if Alcara wins this year, he has done the clean sweep four years before the Swiss legend.

"It's like Rory (McIlroy) going for the Masters, those things are tough," said Federer. "But at his young age, to be able to complete the career Grand Slam would be crazy. Let's see if he is able to do crazy this week, and I hope he does because for the game, that would be an unbelievably special moment. But there's another hundred and whatever players saying, 'We don't agree with those plans', so they'll try everything to stop him."

Rounding off the trio of legends is fellow Spaniard Rafa Nadal, who has spoken very highly of Alcaraz and expects him to excel well into the future.

"As everybody knows, it's amazing," Nadal told Eurosport. "What he is doing is fantastic so well done for him and I wish him all the very best. He is doing a lot of things similar to me. He is young, he has the passion and the energy. He has every single thing to become a huge star. I'm like a Spanish spectator, personally I'm happy to have someone like him to stay on the tour for a long time and achieve a lot of things."

Jannik Sinner

His most fierce rival, Italian Sinner will likely be sharing the stage with Alcaraz for a very long time. Despite their consistent battling in the elite arena, Sinner speaks kindly of his rival.

"I feel like we are quite similar as human beings off the court," admitted Sinner. "I have the feeling that he likes to surround himself with the close people, which I do. I mean it's, for us, how we live is very normal, let's say, you know. Then, obviously, on the court we try to beat, we try to put on a big fight, you know, like we always do and we always try. Then at least he pushes me to do better, you know, which is something good."

Former top-25 player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, another Spaniard, has praised the way Alcaraz was raised. "They've brought him up with great values," said Davidovich Fokina. "But, having an ex-world No. 1 like Juanki as a coach is also an advantage for him. Because he helps him by telling him how to progress and how to act."


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