MELBOURNE, Australia — Carlos Alcaraz may have just celebrated his 21st birthday last May, but he was already making a serious claim to be the best tennis player on the planet.

The charismatic Spaniard has won more Grand Slams than anyone in the sport over the past 30 months, reaching the halfway point of the main event in six of the eight events he has entered. finals and received more than $15 million in prize money.

In September 2022, Alcaraz took over the jersey from Daniil Medvedev and became the youngest ATP world number one. Two and a half months later, he became the youngest year-end world number one. In the blink of an eye, he became the youngest ATP world number one. It seems that he has joined the super elite ranks of tennis.

"For me, the goal now is to win a Grand Slam," Alcaraz, now world No. 3, declared on the eve of the Australian Open, underscoring his desire for success and the lofty expectations he has for himself.

At this stage of Alcaraz's young career, the Australian Open has brought him more frustration and heartbreak than fond memories. Not only is this the only Grand Slam title he has yet to win, but it is an event where he has never been at his best.

Ironically, Alcaraz will first announce himself to the world at the 2022 Australian Open. The 18-year-old suffered a nail-biting defeat in the third round against eventual semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini in a five-set match that lasted four Many hours. Alcaraz played some mesmerizing tennis throughout the tournament, making him an instant crowd favorite and leading many experts to predict success in the near future.

Those predictions soon proved accurate, with Alcaraz defeating Caspar Ruud at the U.S. Open later that year and then going on to win Wimbledon and the French Open over the next two seasons.

But Alcaraz's bobsled career in Australia has been difficult since that game against Berrettini at Melbourne Park. In 2023, as the newly crowned world number one, he was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open due to a hamstring injury in the final stages of training camp. He would return to great fanfare in 2024, but was ultimately defeated by the extremely efficient Alexander Zverev in a lopsided quarter-final that failed to showcase Alcaraz's best form.

This fortnight in Melbourne offers Alcaraz a chance to turn around his fortunes at the Australian Open and add the Norman Brooks Challenge Cup to an already eye-popping trophy collection. Winning the title would put him back ahead of Zverev in the ATP rankings and make him the ninth man in history to win all four majors in his career. At 21, he would become the youngest person to achieve this extraordinary feat.

"I really want to win this tournament. One day, my name will be on the shortlist," Alcaraz said during the opening week of the Australian Open. "I'm working hard every day to get ready for that day. Hopefully it will be this year."

If Alcaraz's performance so far is anything to go by, he may not have to get his hopes too high. In his first match, he defeated Alexander Shevchenko in straight sets. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, Alcaraz played a tennis scrimmage against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka at Margaret Court Arena. At one stage of the game, Alcaraz had won by 32 points, while Nishioka had won by 5 points. In the end, he defeated his Japanese opponent in just 81 minutes, winning 66% of the total points, and only lost 5 games in the entire process, which was basically his second consecutive non-game.

"I thought I had a really good game today," Alcaraz said with a smile after his latest victory. "I improved what I had to improve from the first game... A very good win, very important for me. I'm very happy with everything today. Hopefully it continues like this."

Not only are Australia finally witnessing Alcaraz in full flight, but they may be getting his best version yet.

This past offseason, Alcaraz rebuilt his serve, employing a looser wrist technique to make it more fluid and find accuracy with greater consistency. It's already paying dividends. In the game against Nishioka, he hit 14 aces and his first-serve scoring rate was as high as 89%. He's also hitting the ball harder than he did 12 months ago, resulting in more winners. Match data shows Alcaraz sacrificed about 4 percent of his forehand topspin in exchange for more speed; those shots now average an additional 3 kilometers per hour.

So far, Alcaraz's decision to skip the Australian Open preliminaries, choosing instead to focus on his health and form to ensure he can withstand the rigors of a Grand Slam tournament, appears to be justified.

"I would prefer to have a good pre-season, a little longer. It's not two weeks, it's four weeks," Alcaraz told reporters ahead of the start of the championships in Melbourne. "We don't have a lot of time in December for a long pre-season. You have to think about what's better for you: stay home and continue pre-season and not play any games, or not play pre-season and play some before Game Grand Slam.

"I decided not to come. I think at my age I need a few weeks of training. I need a long pre-season to be ready. The season will be long so you have to be in good shape. (My) I "The goal is) to try and win as many Grand Slams as possible (these are) the most important tournaments in the world."