Carlos Alcaraz etched his name into the history books as the 22-year-old became the youngest ever player to complete a career Grand Slam in the history of the sport. Alcaraz defeated Serb icon Novak Djokovic in a thrilling final at the Rod Laver Arena to clinch his maiden Australian Open title, adding the only Slam that was missing from his cabinet.
The World No.1 now has seven Grand Slams to his name, with the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open evenly won twice to make it six apart from his AO title now. At 22 years and 272 days, Alcaraz has become the youngest man in the sport's history to complete a career Grand Slam (winning all four titles at least once), breaking the 88-year-old record previously held by Don Budge, who completed his career Slam in 1938 when he was 22 years and 363 days old.
How much prize money did Alcaraz bag after winning AO 2026?
Alcaraz will walk off the Rod Laver Arena with a handsome prize of $4,150,000 or Rs 38,05,32,175. This is the same prize money that Elena Rybakina took home for winning the singles title after beating Aryna Sabalenka a day earlier.
Notably, the runner-up Djokovic took home $2,150,000, which is Rs 19,71,43,175.
Djokovic denied a 25th Major again
The 38-year-old Djokovic has been playing this late in his career, which in itself is a huge effort. However, the Serb has missed out on another attempt to win his 25th Grand Slam title, which will put him to tennis eternity with most Slams in the history of sport, across men and women. He is current level of Margaret Court with 24 titles in tennis history.
Djokovic has not won a Major since lifting the US Open 2023, as Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have swept the last nine Majors. Djokovic had a decent chance to win his 25th in the final as he had stunned the two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinal.
