Carlos Alcaraz declared he is “hungry for the title” before his first outing at Australian Open 2026, and used that desire for a maiden trophy at Melbourne Park as fuel during a relatively stress-free passage into the second round on Day 1.
MORE: All the scores from Day 1 at AO 2026
The world No.1 and six-time Grand Slam champion will become the youngest player in history to complete the career Grand Slam in men’s singles if he goes all the way over the next fortnight, and began his quest with a 6-3 7-6(2) 6-2 win against Aussie Adam Walton at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday night.
There were only a few minutes of concern for Alcaraz when he briefly trailed by a break midway through the second set, but once he’d eased through the tiebreak that soon followed, victory against the world No.81 was never really in doubt.
The 22-year-old will be back on Wednesday to face Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann, who beat American Zachary Svajda in four sets earlier on Sunday.
MORE: AO 2026 men's singles draw
“It was a good match, I guess,” Alcaraz told Jim Courier in his on-court interview after his first competitive outing since last season’s ATP Finals.
“I felt great. I think Adam pulled off great shots and played a great level in the match, so I had to stay there at this kind of level. There are difficulties in the first round [so it] was pretty good for me to get ready for the next round. Overall I’m pleased and happy.
“It felt like he was one step [more] forward than me, always in a good position. During a lot of rallies he was solid from the baseline, his flat ball … sometimes it was really difficult for me. It was tricky getting used to the conditions on the court.
“When he was able to step into the court and play aggressive he made it really, really difficult – not only in the second set but in the match in general.”
All eyes will be on Alcaraz at his 20th major after a turbulent pre-season, when he shocked the tennis world by announcing his long-time relationship with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero had come to an abrupt end.
It remains to be seen whether that upheaval has a negative effect on his tennis against more demanding opponents deeper in the draw, but there was little for the Alcaraz fans to be overly concerned about during the opening night session of the tournament.
Not that the top seed would have underestimated his opponent. Walton is yet another product of the US college system after a long spell at the University of Tennessee, and scored wins over Daniil Medvedev and Ugo Humbert in 2025.
The 26-year-old from Home Hill in North Queensland has recently been as high as No.74 in the world, and also reached a first ATP semifinal in Los Cabos last summer.
The local began impressively too – particularly on serve – and there wasn’t much to separate the pair during the first six games.
Walton put himself in trouble with a poor game serving with new balls, however, when two missed forehands and a double fault left him at 0-40. Alcaraz ripped an inside-in forehand up the line to get the first break for 5-3, and after 34 minutes the opening chapter was his.
Things got a lot more interesting early in the second set though when Walton dusted himself down to break in the fourth game for 3-1.
Alcaraz fluffed two consecutive forehands from 30-all to drop serve, and had Walton converted a forehand on game point for a 4-1 lead moments later the match might have taken a different direction.
That opportunity disappeared quickly when Alcaraz broke back immediately, and his slightly heavier weight of shot made the difference in a one-sided 7-2 tiebreak that ended with a Walton double fault.
When the Spaniard broke midway through the third set the contest was effectively over, and he took the Walton serve one last time for good measure before the two shook hands.
The man from Murcia will be hoping it is the first step on a journey that ends with him re-writing yet another page in the history books.