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to be honest,” said the 22-year-old Alcaraz, who has not made it past the quarterfinals in four trips to Australia.

“When I just go to the preseasons to what I want to improve, what I want to achieve, Australian Open is there.

“It’s the first or second tournament of the year, and it is always the main goal for me to complete a career Grand Slam, calendar Grand Slam. So it’s going to be great.”

Alcaraz’s compatriot Rafael Nadal holds the record as the youngest man to win all four majors. He achieved the feat at the age of 24 in 2010 when he won the first of his four US Open titles.

“Obviously I’m going to try to do it next year, but if it is not next year, hopefully in two and three and four. So I will try to complete it,” said Alcaraz.

He will reclaim the world number one ranking from Sinner on Monday, returning to the top of the men’s game for the first time since September 2023.

Alcaraz dropped just one set throughout the tournament and continued his recent mastery of Sinner, getting revenge for his loss to the Italian in the Wimbledon final.

Alcaraz and Sinner are the torch-bearers of the current generation, sweeping the last eight majors between them and taking 10 of the last 13. Novak Djokovic has won the other three.