Aryna Sabalenka is completely focused on winning a third Melbourne title, while Carlos Alcaraz begins his quest for a career Grand Slam on Sunday “hungry” for an elusive Australian Open triumph.
In an effort to reduce late-night finishes, the first major of the year begins as a 15-day tournament for the third consecutive year.
After failing to go past the quarterfinals in four prior trips to Australia, top seed Alcaraz is eager to win.
There are presently two French Open, two US Open, and two Wimbledon titles in his main collection; the Australian Open title is the only piece missing.
“This is my main goal for this year. I’m just hungry for the title, hungry to do a really good result here,” Alcaraz, who will start the night match on Rod Laver Arena against home player Adam Walton, was quoted by AFP as saying.
At Queen’s in London last year, Alcaraz faced the 79th-ranked Walton and prevailed 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
The 22-year-old would become the sixth person to win all four major titles, behind Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Rod Laver, if he were to complete the career Slam.
Additionally, Alcaraz would surpass Nadal, who was 24 at the time, to become the youngest to do so. However, he faces a significant obstacle in the form of Italy’s Jannik Sinner, the two-time reigning champion who is in excellent physical shape.
Sinner, who won Wimbledon after defeating Alexander Zverev in the previous year’s final, will start against Hugo Gaston of France, whom he has faced twice but not since 2021.
“We worked a lot physically. The physical part now is so, so important because the matches can get very long and also very intense. You have to be at the top physical level as long as you can,” Sinner said of his pre-season.
If Sinner makes it that far, he might play 10-time winner Djokovic in the semifinals before possibly facing Alcaraz for the championship.
If Djokovic could go back in time and defeat his younger opponents, he would overtake Margaret Court as the undisputed Slam leader with 25 championships. He faces Pedro Martinez of Spain in a challenging opener.
Zverev will play Canadian Gabriel Diallo on Sunday in the same half of the draw as Alcaraz. Alexander Bublik, ranked tenth in the world, faces American Jenson Brooksby.
Prior to Alcaraz entering Rod Laver Arena, top-ranked Sabalenka takes on French wildcard Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah.
The Belarusian’s aim going into last year’s final was to become the first female winner of three straight Australian Opens since Martina Hingis.
However, she was taken aback by Madison Keys, which she acknowledged that she took a little time to recover from.
“I’m not really focusing on that result last year. “But of course I would like to do just a little bit better than I did last year,” said Sabalenka, who won the Brisbane title last week.
Keys is the ninth seed in Australia after failing to capitalize on her first Grand Slam victory. After making almost 50 unforced errors during her early exit from the warm-up Adelaide International, she will need to get better.
In addition to facing Oleksandra Oliynykova, a debutant from Ukraine, she may face Jessica Pegula in the round of sixteen and Amanda Anisimova in the round of eight.
“I’m really trying to push myself to kind of evolve and add more things to my game,” said the American.
Like Alcaraz, Sabalenka’s main opponent, six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek, is aiming for a career Grand Slam in Melbourne.
“Obviously it would be a dream come true,” said the Polish star, who is yet to go beyond the semi-finals. Yuan Yue, a Chinese qualifier, will be her first opponent.
On Sunday, experienced Venus Williams, seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini, and twelfth-seeded Elena Svitolina will also compete.
